Which is Home
by Nicholas Perle
Summary: Hughes and Roy find themselves stranded in Konoha and must learn to live as shinobi. Meanwhile, the Elrics try to understand the mysteries of the Gate. (Written for NaNoWriMo, FMANaruto crossover. Spoilers for FMA51 and recent Naruto manga).
1. Serendipity

A quick note: A link to the full author's note can be found in my profile. In short, this was and is being written for NaNoWriMo. It's rough, it's occasionally cracky, but it's fun. And if you decide to skip the real author's note, what you need to know is this: FMA and Naruto don't belong to me, and this is not for profit. There are spoilers for a lot of stuff up to the last episode of FMA, and plenty of minor spoilers for Naruto up to the middle of the series. Most of this takes place in the middle of the manga time-jump and I don't consider most of the Naruto spoilers to be major. But if you're not caught up, you might want to be careful anyway. It _is_ the end of the month, and I'm having a bit of an existential crisis over finishing this, so if you'd be kind enough to review I'd love you forever. Thanks, and enjoy!

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There was not a sound as they made their way through the trees, closing in on their target. It was not his first assassination mission, but he was hardly used to the way of life he'd had to adopt in the past few months. He thanked whatever deity may have been listening, whether he believed in them or not, that he was an adaptable person, and listened for the signal. He adjusted the sword strapped to his back: a kodachi. It was one thing he'd never quite gotten used to. He knew small weapons and loved his knives, but a sword was a whole different matter, and for him it was rarely anything more than a part of his uniform. It was far too large to be useful for throwing, and he hated close-range fighting more than anything. 

There was the sound of a twig snapping off to this left – the signal. Directing the adrenaline in his system to give him more energy than it already was, he jumped from the tree into the clearing, along with the other two members of his team. The leader stood squarely in front of their target, a missing-nin who had been caught spying in the village a few days earlier. He warned him of what was going to happen, but it was no matter. They all had the same reaction. Any shinobi who had done something to warrant having a squad of Anbu after him knew he was fated to fight for his survival when they caught up with him. A battle was inevitable, though three against one was rarely a fair fight. It was only fair to the village that the odds be unbalanced, though. They couldn't afford to have their secrets escape easily.

The fight, if it could even be called that, was over quickly. A flash of kunai, two drawn swords, knives and shuriken colliding in the air, a few poofs of chakra and it was done. This particular man hadn't been terribly skilled. He'd probably just been tricked away from his village to do spying for some more powerful shinobi. One who knew he wouldn't stand a chance if he was caught. A pawn. It was sad, really. There were people like this all the time, working under evil people because they were desperate or happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, ending up under their power with no way to escape, only ever knowing one side of the story – a twisted, skewed one that painted the evil men as the only ones in the world that had it right.

This time, he was the one left to clean up the aftermath. He took off his porcelain mask so he could concentrate and breathe more easily. Hiding his identity now wasn't important. The job now was to eliminate all trace of the man. It was not a pretty job. The other two shinobi leapt back up into the trees to search for anyone who may have been following the man as he set to work. He was sure they'd find no one. Anyone who had been with him would have been included in the order for assassination, and the spies were rarely wrong on the information they collected. He wished that he could learn the required skills faster so he could leave this messy job. It reminded him too much of the wars he'd been in before, though at least now there were no guns. The villages weren't in an all-out war yet, but it was obvious by the increase in spies lately that they were shoring up their data networks, collecting what they'd need to know to attack, or maybe just see if what they wanted was still within the village. There were many people who wanted what they had.

There was a crash in the trees to his right. He looked up, startled. How could someone have escaped their notice? The other two ninjas were no doubt far off by now, on the outer parts of their surveillance radius. It would still be a while before they got back. It was far from a brilliant idea, but the man decided to investigate the problem himself. Though he'd only started his training a few months ago, he was a very skilled ninja. Not many became Anbu, even after years of training. He imagined his skill with knives had helped him in that case. Long before he had found himself outside of Konoha village, he'd been good with his knives. From there, he'd only had to learn how to control chakra. It reminded him of home for some reason, of the people he knew that could control energy to create things as well as destroy them. Though he did not understand the ideas of home, where it was a science, here it was taught as something you had a feel for, and he'd taken quickly to it, almost like a new part of his mind had been awakened by coming here.

He pushed aside a stand of low-lying brambles with his gloved hand, a small knife palmed in the opposite, just in case. He looked up to where the branches were broken, like something had fallen from the sky. A few feet over, lying on the ground, he saw what had caused the noise. A small but strong man with vaguely messy black hair stared up at him. He was wearing a brown suit, ripped and stained with blood. Though the colours blended in with the surroundings, its style was meant for a place that was far from the forest. If the ninja was having trouble hiding the shock on his face, the man in the suit wasn't even trying to. They stared at each other for almost an entire minute before speaking at the same time.

"What the… Roy?"

"Hughes?"

Behind him, Hughes sensed the chakra of the other two ninjas approaching. Since they were no longer attempting to conceal their presence, he knew the coast was clear of immediate danger. However, there was one small problem.

"Roy, this is weird, but don't think about it now. What's important is if they find you in those clothes they are going to be _immediately_ suspicious. It was hard enough for me to explain my uniform away. We have to do something."

Roy eyed him warily but proceeded to take off his jacket and shirt. Hughes' eyes immediately fell on the spots underneath where the tears and red stains on Roy's shirt had been. There were cuts and scratches all over him, and the large wound near his left shoulder was still bleeding.

"My God, what did you let them do to you? What were you trying to do, overthrow the government?"

Roy's small smirk was all the answer he needed.

"I can't leave you alone at all, can I?"

"Can I at least keep the pants?"

"Sure… but hold still."

Hughes pulled one of his kunai from the pouch at his waist and cut the pants off at the knees. He used the fabric to bandage the wound on Roy's shoulder, constantly looking behind him to make sure his two partners hadn't returned yet. At least he had been quick about disposing of the spy's body. He should have met them on the way back to the village by now, and they were surely coming back to see what was taking him so long. He stuffed the jacket and shirt behind the tree, then pulled off Roy's shoes and threw them on top. The socks were pulled off, and quickly disappeared into an unseen pocket in Hughes' clothes. He eyed Roy.

"There's still something missing…" Hughes looked him up and down, then whipped off Roy's belt and fastened it over one shoulder so it hung down across his stomach. Taking the bag of shuriken from his own belt, he attached it at Roy's waist. "I suppose that's as ninja as you're going to get," he smiled. Roy continued to stare at him in disbelief. Too many thoughts were jostling around in his mind for him to form any sort of coherent sentence, so he did his best to play along. If Hughes was just messing with him, he could kill him later - after he finished wondering why his friend, that until a minute ago he'd thought was dead, would be messing with him. Hughes could be a bit irreverent and glib at times, but this was a little far for a joke, even for him.

Mere seconds later, Hughes' partners arrived in the trees above them. He silently hoped that they hadn't been watching the entire time. He looked up towards them as they stood in the branches. Though he could do the same himself now, he still couldn't help being amazed at how they could stand and balance on such small branches. The sun shone down through the opening where Roy had fallen through the trees. Hughes chose not to worry about how exactly his friend had ended up here, assuming it had been the same as how he'd found himself here. He'd found a way to get himself killed. Well, the least he could do now was keep him safe. Fate was an amazing thing, and had luckily dropped his friend where he'd be the one to find him.

The shorter and less imposing of the two ninjas looked down.

"When the sun glints off your glasses like that you look evil, you know?"

"Just doing my best to look suspicious."

"Well, good job," the leader replied. Almost his entire face was covered by a black mask. Only his left eye peeked out and, as always, it looked vaguely bored. Hughes knew though, that the owner of that eye only looked bored because he'd already figured out exactly what was going on. "Who's behind you?"

"Well, Kakashi, sir…" Hughes tried not to treat the man like a military superior, but it was often hard. He quickly thought through all the different excuses he could use to explain Roy's presence. None of them seemed believable in the least, though. There was "Well sir, he just fell from the trees and I found him here." The truth… but hardly believable. "He was following the guy we just killed"? No, too dangerous. "He was fighting him"? Not likely, though he did look beat up enough. Finally, he settled on a sort of compromise. "He says he came from one of the cities. He was tired of working for the lords and merchants, and decided to try to find one of the hidden villages and become a shinobi. It looks like he's gotten pretty beat up along the way, though. I think he tried to fight that guy…"

Kakashi gave Hughes a very sceptical look that was echoed to a lesser degree by the ninja beside him. Slowly though, his glare turned into a smirk. Kakashi turned to him.

"What now, Yatsu?"

"No wonder! Look at how he's dressed! He probably thinks he's a ninja already!" He stifled a snicker, and the creases in Kakashi's mask showed that he was smiling too. "City-boy, do you really think you can make it out here?"

Roy glared up at the two ninjas, now laughing outright at him from the trees. It was obviously just a release of post-battle stress, but he rubbed his fingers together out of habit, wishing his gloves hadn't been destroyed. No hurt in teaching them a lesson, anyway. Unexpectedly, he felt the energy he usually concentrated there growing without the array. He did his best to hide his confusion, and later the evil grin that would have crossed his face under any other circumstances. He quickly calculated the materials he had at hand. Plenty of dry kindling… perfect. Now, sparks. With his left hand he reached into the bag of shuriken at his waist. Pulling out two, he slid them against each other, creating the faintest of sparks. It was enough. He concentrated a little, directing the fire upwards at the two men in the tree. He let a satisfied smirk cross his face, as two charred objects fell from the tree.

"Impressive."

Two logs hit the ground where two ninjas should have been and Roy turned around, startled to see Kakashi and Yatsu hanging upside down from a branch behind him, arms crossed over their white vests.

"Of course, now that you've tried to kill us we're going to have to take you back to the village." Yatsu swung down from the tree and landed next to Roy. "You really tried to fight that guy, eh?"

Roy managed a nod, then turned to Hughes and fell forward. Hughes leaned forward and caught him before he hit the ground.

"We should really get him back; he's lost a lot of blood from his shoulder. And you guys taunting him was no help." He pulled Roy carefully up over his shoulder, trying not to tear open any of his wounds. He hopped into the tree next to Kakashi and Yatsu.

"You know, he might just make a good ninja. If he survived that guy by himself and still managed to attack us, I've got to give him a lot of credit." Yatsu watched Hughes carry the man along, somehow managing to keep up with the two despite his burden. Kakashi remained silent, keeping his concentration on the surrounding area. "You're always looking after the underdogs, aren't you?"

"I can't help it, it's a habit," Hughes mused. "Anyway, it's only fair. After all, people were nice enough to do it for me." He smiled, and added "It's equivalent trade."


	2. Get Dressed!

Roy Mustang awoke the next morning in a quaint little room. There was no glass in the windows, letting the curtains flutter in the breeze. Thankfully the sun was shining, and it was warm enough that he would've chosen to keep the windows open anyway. The air was surprisingly clean, nothing like Central's. Obviously there weren't factories or cars here for miles. The floor was bare wood, and the walls were almost entirely devoid of any decoration. Nothing seemed to give any hint as to who this home could belong to, though a persistent thought at the back of his mind reminded him that Hughes had found him, and he doubted anyone else here would willingly take him in. Naturally then, this must be Hughes' house, though it hardly seemed like it. There wasn't a single photograph to be seen in the room, and it made Roy uneasy. Maes Hughes. What on Earth was he doing here? How had the two of them ended up in the same place like this, anyway? It made no sense, and on top of that, his mind felt oddly unsteady here. Like he'd just finished cramming for exams and his brain was still trying to sort out all of the information. His brain wasn't happy about it, either; he felt a little dizzy. The feeling didn't sit well with him at all. Instead, he tried to concentrate on the giddy feeling that came from knowing that Hughes was not dead. At least things weren't going badly, for what little sense they made.

He dropped his feet down over the edge of the bed, and stared down at his pants on the floor. There was no way he was going to wear those again. They were embarrassing. Then again, walking around everywhere in only his boxers would probably also be embarrassing. Oh well, Hughes would have a plan. He stood up and stretched his arms. Automatically, his hand went to where King Bradley, the Fuhrer, had pushed his sword through his shoulder just the night before. There was no blood. It wasn't bandaged, it didn't even hurt. He looked down at it, confused. Only a faint scar remained. He began to wonder how long he'd been asleep, but the smell of breakfast lured him out of the bedroom. There were too many things to figure out at once, and his stomach reminded him that it would like to be fed before he sat down to do any serious thinking.

Hughes stood in front of a small stove making scrambled eggs and toast, humming to himself. Occasionally he would slide across the floor in his socks to grab something out of the refrigerator. Roy walked up behind him and prepared to poke him in his side. A menacing grin crossed his face. Tickle-attacks were Hughes' biggest weakness. He was within centimetres. He was prepared for Hughes' yelp and girlish scream, when suddenly the person in front of him disappeared with a poof of smoke and he was tackled from behind.

"Very cute, Mustang. I'm glad to see that you're adjusting so quickly," Hughes pinned Roy to the floor, kneeling on his back and pulling his arms back.

"Hey, hey, go easy on me. How on earth did you do that?"

"What? Go easy on you? When I've finally got the upper hand? You're not injured, are you?"

Roy was relieved to see that, despite the lack of pictures around, Hughes was at least still his usual, happy-go-lucky self. This disappearing and reappearing stuff that people kept doing was really beginning to unnerve him, though. He gave a kick, hoping to knock Hughes off balance, but his hold stayed firm.

"Okay, okay. Enough." Roy relaxed under Hughes, and the man stepped off. "You owe me a lot of explanation right now."

Hughes turned back to the stove and nodded.

"I also owe you clothes. I think I'd like to take care of that first. I can't have you wandering around my house in only your boxers." He emptied the eggs from the pan onto two plates and garnished them with crustless toast. "But, before that: breakfast."

He steered Roy over to the table. The living space was small, so the table was situated in the area between the kitchen and the couch. The front door opened almost straight into it. Roy wondered how people lived in such Spartan places. It lacked so many important things – like books. He stared down at the toast.

"There's no crust…"

"Oh," Hughes looked vaguely sheepish. "I used to do that for Elysia on all her sandwiches. I guess I sort of kept the habit."

Roy smiled and picked up a piece of toast. It was dry without butter, but it was food. He looked down at the eggs ravenously… then he noticed the utensils.

"Hughes?" he looked up across the table at his friend, who was happily eating the eggs. "Chopsticks? For eggs?" He picked up the two sticks and poked at the eggs. They fell apart into smaller pieces, almost as if to mock him.

Hughes stared back at him, his mouth full of food, and made a sort of grunting response. "Sorry, no forks here."

"You have got to be kidding me. You know I can't use these!"

"Hahaha, I know, I know. I remember that one time we ordered in from that Xing place down the street. I tried to show you how to use them, but in the end you just transmuted the chopsticks into a fork."

"That's not a bad idea. Do you have any paper?"

"Your unwillingness to learn is depressing."

Roy walked over and tore a sheet of paper from a notebook sitting on the table, and grabbed the pen from on top of it. He quickly sketched two concentric circles with two triangles inscribed, the larger one pointing up. It was a slightly different version of the array he used to create fire. Instead of controlling the air elements though, it concentrated power to rearrange the elements. He took it over and set it down on the table, and moved the chopsticks on top of it. He placed the tips of his fingers on the edge of the lines and concentrated on moulding the two bits of wood into a single, more usable utensil.

Hughes stared at the reaction occurred. A blue light rose from the lines on the paper, and the two chopsticks merged into a fork. Alchemy had always amazed him, and though he wouldn't admit it, it was part of the reason he kept Roy so close by. He'd always hoped that maybe he could pick up some of it if he watched for long enough, but he'd watched for years, even understood the concepts, but he'd never seemed to have any talent for it at all. As Roy picked up the new fork and started eating, an odd realization crept into Hughes' mind. He tucked it away and reminded himself to ask Roy about it later. The rest of breakfast passed with relatively little conversation, Roy making an obvious effort not to press Hughes about what had happened. He knew it was best not to push Hughes for information when he wasn't ready to give it.

When they were finished, Hughes picked up the dishes and dropped them in the sink. Unlike most home inhabited by only one male, the whole place was stunningly clean, almost like it had barely been lived in at all. Perhaps his years with his wife and daughter had domesticated him. Then again, a shinobi would probably only need a house for eating and sleeping anyway, and those activities usually left only small messes.

Outside the window people were milling around the streets. Every so often, a few people would rush by, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to avoid the crowds. Everything seemed to be coloured with pale earth tones, and there was something about the entire village that seemed to keep people from concentrating on it too much, like you'd only notice it if you knew it was there. His eyes fell on the giant carving on the side of the mountain that made the northern border of the village. Four giant heads stared down over the village, watching. They were obviously former rulers of the city, or something similar to that. Roy shuddered at the thought of a giant picture of the Fuhrer staring down on Central city. He silently thanked his city for never coming up with such an imposing idea.

His attention turned back to Hughes as he finished up the dishes. It took a lot of willpower to do the dishes right after dirtying them. Hughes had always been the sort to do tedious things like that without putting them off, though. Roy idly wondered what he was going to have to do about clothes. That was their next project, it seemed. Clothes before explanation seemed a bit odd, but he went along with it. Apparently Hughes was no longer as comfortable with seeing him in his boxers as he used to be. Another side-effect of domestication, he guessed. There was little else he could do but play along, and he'd be foolish not to trust Hughes' information-gathering. If Hughes didn't know what was going on, there wasn't much of a chance that he would be able to figure it out by himself within the next eternity. Indeed, it had taken him months to figure out what Hughes had figured out that had scared the homunculus so badly that they decided to kill him. Admittedly their guard was up against that weakness afterwards, but finding the information had been nearly impossible, and he knew he had only been allowed to learn the truth when they were ready for him to know it, anyway. They'd forced his hand, and though he'd done his best to beat them at their own game, it seemed they'd won out in the end anyway, even though it wasn't directly their doing. He hoped he'd been able to make some difference by killing King Bradley. Maybe, without the Fuhrer, the country would be able to right itself and fix all the wrongs that had caused all the pointless wars to rage on for years... And he hoped more than anything that Ed had managed to save Al, and that the two of them had returned home safely.

"Yo, Mustang!" Hughes waved a hand in front of Roy's face and whistled, blowing a few strands of hair out of his face. "Are you even awake?"

"Hmm? Yeah?"

"You've been staring straight through me for the past five minutes."

"Sorry."

"Anyway, we've got to find you clothes. The clothes make the ninja here. Your rank, your clan, your specialty… all in the clothes. And… what is it? Why are you staring at my feet?"

"Hughes, are those my socks?"

"Well…" Hughes feigned innocence. "What if they are?"

"Why are you wearing my socks?"

"You have no idea how hard it is to find socks in Konoha."

"And?"

"I like to wear socks. That's why I wear sandals without open toes, unlike most of the other people here. I can slide across floors in them. Like in the kitchen." It was hard to tell if Hughes was entirely serious.

"You wear socks… so you can slide across the kitchen floor? Wait. Those are sandals?"

"Yes."

"They look like boots. And you stole my socks."

"You didn't miss them until you saw them on me anyway."

Roy sighed. There was no use in pushing Maes' silly little arguments any farther than they needed to go. He had a tendency to start little fights just to exercise his mind, it seemed. The more ridiculous they were, the more he enjoyed them. He positively revelled in it. Roy looked up at the man and tried to ignore the amused twinkle in his eyes. This was not going to be fun. "All right. Let's get this over with. If your taste in clothes here is anything like yours at home though, you know I'm more than a little worried. Really Maes, ducky pyjamas? Don't you care what people think?"

Hughes ignored the jab, walking off into the bedroom. Roy followed. He'd only bought the pyjamas after Elysia was born, anyway. The pirate clothes issue had, surprisingly, not been mentioned. Roy loved to mock Hughes about his taste in civilian clothes. Here though, there didn't seem to be too much to mock. He was dressed in the same black shirt he wore underneath his military uniform at home. Undoubtedly he'd kept it to remind himself of where he'd come from. Instead of dog tags, a black band of fabric was tied loosely around his neck. The front had a metal plate with the leaf symbol of the village on it. He'd seen all the other ninjas wearing these, too, though most wore them on their heads rather than around their necks. In a way though, Roy was happy Hughes chose to wear his around his neck. He imagined it would make him look silly otherwise.

Over top of it, he wore a green flak jacket, which looked to Roy like a sort of bullet-proof vest. It seemed out of place… he knew that those were usually only useful against bullets. It was still possible to stab through them with a knife. The wonder of the fabric normally used was that it absorbed the force of the bullet, keeping it from hitting the body and penetrating. Things made for cutting, however, were a different matter. Clearly this would have to block sharp projectiles instead. It looked amazingly light for any material he could imagine that could serve that purpose. Roy watched Hughes as he started to open all the drawers in his dresser, sorting through the clothes. An odd mark on his arm caught his attention. He tried to get a better look at it.

"Hughes? Is that a tattoo?"

"Oh," he looked over onto his left arm. "Yes."

"Why?"

"It denotes the people that have been part of the Anbu."

"Anbu being…?"

"A group of hunter ninjas. We basically go out and hunt down spies and runaways." Hughes skirted around the issue of actually killing the people they went after. He figured there were some things Roy shouldn't know yet. It would only worry him more. Roy turned his attention back to the clothes.

The rest of the outfit looked rather mundane. The overarching theme seemed to be black on black, with more black on the side. It didn't surprise him. There were reasons for some clichés, and that was because they worked. The pants were short, seeming to stop just below the knee where wrapped athletic tape, the only white showing in the entire outfit, went down to the ankles where Roy's socks were bunched up. Not paying them any more mind however, his attention moved to Hughes's hands. He wore a pair of long black gloves with the fingers cut out which came to the middle of his forearm. They made him look almost like a thief, or assassin. Strapped onto the right arm, black on black and barely noticeable if you weren't looking for it, sat Hughes' knives. It was comforting to see that at least they had followed him here. He had pondered over the device many times, marvelling at how it responded to the lightest flick of the wrist, sending one of the small knives down into your hand. Roy had tried it once, but only ended up cutting himself. It had been slightly more embarrassing than Hughes' vain attempts at using his flame gloves, snapping his fingers and glaring at the back of his hands, trying to will the sparks into flames. Each had his own way; their weapons seemed to be suited only to them.

Roy was unexpectedly hit with a shirt as Hughes rifled through his drawers looking for anything that would suit Roy. It seemed that in the past few months he had somehow managed to amass quite a large collection of black clothing. Black pants, black shoes, an amazing array of black shirts, and a lonely pair of white socks were scattered across the bed. Roy looked over at the piece of clothing that had landed on his shoulder. He stared, made sure Hughes was watching him, and continued staring for added effect. He pulled the shirt off of his shoulder and, looking at him through the holes in the fabric, gave Hughes the most incredulous look he could muster without laughing. It took him a few tries to get it right.

"Um, Hughes?"

The man turned around to face him, a few more black shirts in slightly different cuts were thrown hanging over his shoulders.

"Fishnet?"

He smirked.

"What? Is there a problem with it?"

"Don't tell me you wear this."

"Well…" Roy let the implication slip by, not wanting to push the clothing issue into even more illogical territory. Hughes continued anyway, almost mocking him. "It makes a good undershirt when it's too warm to completely cover your arms, and too cold to keep them bare."

"Very… utilitarian, I guess. Other people really wear this?" The question was mostly rhetorical. Roy had seen other ninjas as he came into the village, even though they supposedly weren't able to see him. Hughes and the other ninjas had explained it as some sort of "genjutsu," a way of manipulating people into believing they were seeing what you wanted to them to see. Fishnet seemed to be an overwhelmingly common fashion statement.

"Don't worry. I won't make you wear it if you don't want to. I've got plenty of other stuff here."

"Thanks, I think I'll pass on the fishnet."

He tossed the fishnet top back to Hughes, and began looking through the range of black clothes on the bed. At least he didn't have to worry about matching anything. None of the clothes seemed like they'd suit him, though. When he wasn't at home – and it was rare that he was ever at home for longer than a few hours to eat and sleep – he was almost always in a suit or his military uniform. These t-shirts and thick cotton pants seemed far too casual, but they'd have to do. Reluctantly he pulled on one of the smaller black t-shirts. The sleeves stopped at the edge of the shoulders, but he decided he'd deal with it. Most of what Hughes had was about a half-size too big for him, so he'd have to take what he could get. He wasn't bitter about being smaller than the other man, and he'd learned to compensate for his smaller stature by being intimidating in other ways, but when it came to sharing clothes it was a bit of a disadvantage. He pulled on the only pair of full-length pants and looked down at his bare feet. Shoes were something he'd have to find a way to buy later. Clothes that were too big could be dealt with, but shoes were an entirely different matter.

Roy Mustang walked over to the closet door and looked into the mirror. He shifted his weight and stared back at himself from the mirror. He made a face at himself.

"I look like I'm ready to go rob graves or something."

"Really? I never pegged you as the type."

"Would you stop being so glib? You've dressed me. Now explain to me what on _earth_ is going on here."

Hughes looked him up and down again, looking vaguely disapproving. He looked over at the dresser and picked up a pair of smaller black gloves. They too had the fingers cut out, but they extended no farther than the wrist. Roy took them and put them on. They were different, but the feel of something covering his hands was familiar, and anything familiar was in a way comforting. He stared down at the back of his right hand, and traced circles over it with his fingers.

"Do you have any paint for these?"

Hughes smiled.

"No, sorry. Though I wonder if you even need that here." Hughes watched for what type of reaction his hint would elicit from Roy. He'd seen him use alchemy twice here now, once without an array. And the colour of the light he made had now changed from yellow to match Ed's blue.

A hint of a smile crossed Roy's face at the thought. He hadn't thought back to the encounter he'd had with the two other ninjas after Hughes had found him. How had he done that? Could he do it again? The scientific, logical part of his mind did its best to crush the idea, telling him it was nothing more than a fancy. He'd been half unconscious from the blood loss at the time, something must have just been weird. Swamp gas or something. Then again, Ed had been able to control his alchemy without an array. The idea wasn't completely farfetched…

"Hmm, something's still missing." His pensive look matched Roy's for a moment, and then the light of inspiration appeared in his eyes. Throwing open the closet door, he pulled a blue vest off of a hanger and tossed it to Roy. "There. Colour."

During the brief moment the closet was open, Roy thought he spotted a dirty blue uniform hanging in the back. Thoughts swirled in his head as he tried to sort out this new clue. He pulled the vest on and looked into the mirror again. At least it had a collar. Turning around, he saw that a strange symbol was printed on the back, undoubtedly a clan symbol. He frowned at his reflection.

"What's this?"

"You don't recognize the symbol of your own element?"

"Ah… oh." Roy smiled. "I see. Appropriate."

Hughes turned and led the way into the living room. The wood floors were a little chilly on Roy's bare feet so, against his pride, he snatched a pair of the white socks from the bed and pulled them on. He then followed Hughes into the living area.

"Now, I suppose I owe you an explanation."


	3. Down to a Science

Hughes leaned back on the couch, resting his feet on the coffee table. Roy sat at the other side of the couch, facing him with an expectant and slightly exasperated look on his face. Hughes looked down at his socks.

"I'll warn you now, there isn't a whole lot I know about how I got here. But I can tell you what I've learned about things here since then, so you don't have to go through the same things I did. Things here are constantly changing, but I think you can get the hang of it."

"How long have you been here?" Roy knew the answer, but he asked anyway. There was a chance, maybe, that the time flowed differently or, perhaps, that this was all a strange cosmic misunderstanding.

"It's hard to keep track of time here. My best guess would be that it's been several months. Four? Five? I'm not sure."

"So, you've been here since you…" Roy trailed off and let the sentence hang. 'Since you died' seemed like such an odd way to end the sentence, but it was true. He'd seen the body, been to the funeral.

Hughes' mood was suddenly more serious. He moved his feet down to the floor and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He'd given this a lot of thought since he'd dropped down through the trees in front of two ninjas.

"It was the weirdest feeling. The whole thing was just… surreal. I'd tried to stay one step ahead of them and I didn't think they knew about Sheska, but I underestimated them. The last thing I remember is being shot, and then the darkness closing in on me. It felt like little hands grabbing me and pulling me backwards. Then everything was white, but it wasn't actually over. I was sort of just existing, but not existing at the same time. Everything kept fading in and out. And there was a giant door or wall in front of me, wide open with all these little eyes staring out at me, surrounded by blackness. They were giggling or laughing or something. They pulled me in, and it was like I had the weirdest dream of my life: colours, images all flashing by. Then, next thing I knew, I fell down through the trees here in front of these two guys who happened to be out in the woods."

"Just like me."

"Almost exactly the same. You saw those little children, too? How did you…" for some reason, they both seemed to avoid the word 'die.' They were used to filling in each others' sentences, though.

"It took me way too long to put together what you were trying to tell me, that they had infiltrated the military into the highest ranks. I imagine they only let me figure it out when they were ready for me. I thought I was ready for them, too though. Hawkeye and I had planned it out perfectly. I fought the Fuhrer. I knew he was a homunculus, and I killed him." He laughed derisively. "He would have killed me, if his son hadn't come back. The poor boy brought Bradley his own skull. That's their weakness. So he killed the boy, and I used the skull he'd brought to kill him. Me and my ambition. I carried the little boy's body out of there. It was the least I could do. Then, as I was walking out the front door, Frank Archer came out and shot me."

"Roy, that doesn't even make sense."

"You have no idea. He should have died in Ishbar, when Scar made Al into the philosopher's stone. Somehow they turned him into a half-robot, and he went almost entirely insane trying to protect the Fuhrer…" he trailed off and watched as Hughes looked more and more confused. It wasn't often that you could confuse Hughes. "I'm sorry; there is no way to explain what happened since you left. None of it makes sense if you weren't there to see it for yourself. Heck, not much of it makes sense even if you did see it. Hughes he shot me in the head, right between the eyes. And that was it. It was immediately black and these little eyes glittered at me, laughing. Then the white room, just like you said. I stood there staring at that gate thing. I thought I saw Ed and Al for a moment. They faded out, and the gate pulled me in."

"Ed and Al were at the gate, too?"

"I could have imagined them, I suppose."

"Did they get their bodies back?"

"I hope so. If seeing them there means that they died anyway… Hughes was anything we did worth it?"

"You killed the Fuhrer, didn't you? If we're lucky, that means that at least the government will have to change."

"But I'm gone. If Ed and Al are too, there's no one to counter them anymore. Everything is theirs. Hawkeye is the only other one who knew most of what was happening, and I didn't even tell her everything because I was afraid of what they could do if she knew. For all I know they've killed her too."

"I'm sorry. I wish there was something we could still do about it." Hughes did his best to smile, watching the familiar defiant fire dance behind Roy's eyes. "Look, we're both still alive, aren't we? Where there's a will, there's a way. You're a brilliant alchemist, and here you've got all the time you want. Research it."

Roy seemed to think over the thought for no more than a few seconds. He'd always been quick on his decisions.

"To do that, I'm going to have to know how to get around here and gather information. You need to finish your story. What happened when those two guys found you?"

"Well, I was sworn to secrecy about this, but it won't make any sense if I don't tell you." Hughes gave Roy a wry smile, as he continued. "They were making out."

"They were just randomly making out in the woods? And you said my story of robotic Archer made no sense."

"You can't even compare those two things. Anyway, you don't even know them. They actually make a cute couple." Hughes smirked. "I caught them completely off-guard when I fell through the trees. They thought I was spying on them, and tried to bribe me. They didn't recognize my clothes as anything from any of the other hidden villages, so they knew that I wasn't a missing-nin or anyone threatening. Or at least they assumed. Luckily I was able to get my bearings quickly enough to play along. They took me to be someone from one of the normal cities, lost out in the woods. They offered to take me in and teach me to be a ninja if I swore I'd never tell anyone in the village what I'd seen, though now I don't know why they were bothering to keep it a big secret. Anyway, they took me back to the village, and introduced me to the head of the village – the 3rd Hokage, Sarutobi. It seems he owed Genma and Hayate a favour for something, and he gladly took me in to train me. I think he might have been lonely. The man could talk for hours, but he was one amazing ninja."

"You were trained by the head of the village?"

Hughes laughed and leaned back on the couch, gloating.

"Apparently I had a lot of potential. My accuracy with a shuriken was unheard-of, and for one reason or another I was able to understand the idea of chakra almost immediately."

"Chakra?"

"The best explanation I can come up with is that it's a type of mental energy. If you concentrate on it, you can mold it and use it for extra power or for creating illusions like we did to sneak you in here."

"Does it actually work?"

"Oh, right. You couldn't see the illusion from the inside. Would you like me to demonstrate?" Hughes looked far too pleased with himself. He thoroughly enjoyed the fact that he finally had one up on his friend. Without waiting for an answer – he knew what the reply would be anyway – he held his hands together to make a seal and said one word: "Henge!"

Roy stared at himself staring back at himself from under Hughes' glasses. He shuddered involuntarily as a perfect reflection of himself watched him, wearing Hughes' clothes and glasses. He'd only heard of the homunculus Envy's powers, never seen it for himself, but he imagined dealing with it would be a lot like this. This was new, nothing that could be done easily with alchemy, but clearly Hughes, who had previously had no talent for such things, had been able to pull it off. He wasn't sure if he should call this ability a science, it seemed to be more of a spiritual thing. 'Mental energy,' pah. It reminded him of one of his earliest alchemy teachers. She'd been heavily into spiritual things, and had almost convinced him that alchemy was dead as a science. He'd wanted to give it up after she told him to sit in a dark room for an hour, concentrating on his breathing and thinking the word "alchemy" over and over to see what images it brought to his mind. But here it was in front of him - something that actually worked on those concepts. Seeing was a powerful thing.

Hughes released the jutsu, returning to his true form. He gave Roy a concerned look, as all the colour seemed to have drained from his face.

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm sorry. Wow." Roy couldn't keep the amazement from showing, and his natural curiosity won over. "I wasn't expecting that at all. How does it work?"

"Basically, you gather the chakra and then mold it together by making a seal with your hands." He held his hands together again to demonstrate the seal. "You hold the idea of what you want to do in your mind and direct the chakra to it."

"Does it actually change who you are?"

"Well, not exactly."

"An illusion, then?"

"No, not entirely. It's more like… convincing the world that the image in your mind is who you really are, and asking it to move to allow it. It's really a weird feeling, to exist appearing outwardly as someone else, but you get used to the feeling."

"Do you think I could do it?" Roy looked innocently hopeful. He looked like a child ready to try out a new toy.

"I suppose so."

Roy immediately dove in with a theory. His ability to do this with almost anything had always astounded Hughes.

"It looks like it works a lot like alchemy. Making the seal is a lot like drawing an array; in fact it looks like it also makes a circle to focus the energy, and the different positions of the fingers probably indicate the type of work the seal is supposed to do, just like the different symbols in the arrays. Actually, when Ed claps, he uses the circle created by his hands to perform the reaction. It had always amazed me." Hughes was stunned, watching Roy's mind jump from connection to connection. Somehow, they all made sense. "Alchemy deals more directly with the elements, but the mental part seems to be the same, too, at least in practice. You have to have an idea of what you want to do, or else you won't be able to control the reaction."

"I feel like I should be writing this down."

Roy smiled and clapped his hands together to form the seal. His eyes closed as he concentrated on the image in his mind. A faint blue glow rose around his outline. Instead of a poof of chakra, the glow seemed to fold around him as his form slowly changed to match Hughes'. The man found rather quickly that he couldn't seem to catch his breath. He was panicking. This was _exactly_ like the changes Envy was able to do, the way the changed flowed along one line as the entire body shifted to another form. Roy opened his eyes and smiled wryly at Hughes. He'd even duplicated the glasses. The smile didn't match the face at all; the mannerisms were completely Roy's. The effect was rather jarring. He stretched and looked down at his hands.

"You're right, it is sort of uncomfortable." He looked over, finally seeming to notice the expression on Hughes' face. "What is it? Now you look like the one who's just seen a ghost."

"You… you did that with alchemy."

"What?"

"That wasn't chakra at all. Chakra transformations are more sudden. That was just…"

"But…" The smile fell from his face, and Roy suddenly looked serious.

"Release the jutsu."

"Huh?"

"Just… just release the jutsu. Let the image in your mind go. If you used chakra, you'll automatically go back to normal."

Roy looked concerned. He concentrated on banishing the image of Hughes from his mind, and then tried thinking of his original form. Nothing changed.

"Nothing. It doesn't work."

This time Hughes looked concerned.

"Try using alchemy to undo it."

"But…"

"Look, there's no use denying it now. You've done it twice already."

"But I didn't _mean_ to. I don't know how I've done it."

"Relax. We know it wasn't a fluke, now."

Roy closed his eyes again. He clapped his hands a bit more softly this time, and didn't bother curling his fingers into the seal. He took a breath, and touched the palms of his hands to his chest. The blue glow rose around him again, but this time the shimmering line moved across his body more quickly. Soon, he was himself again. He was a bit shaken, but the realization that he could now use alchemy without an array was pouring adrenaline into his system. Power seemed to tingle at his fingertips.

"I shouldn't have been able to do that," he breathed. Excitement shone in his eyes. "What on earth happened to us before we got here?"

Hughes looked deep in thought. "I don't know. But this does explain one thing to me. When the Third was training me, the first jutsu he tried to teach me was bushin no jutsu – a cloning technique. When I first tried it I passed out from the effort, but he said later when I woke up that the clones had been strange. That they'd risen out of the ground surrounded by this strange glow, and they seemed almost completely real. He accused me of secretly learning kage bushin for a long time. Now I think I know what happened. Your light wasn't always blue, was it?"

"It's blue now? You mean…"

"Is it possible?"

"Well, yes, if… Yes. I guess that makes sense if going through that gate did what I think it did." Roy picked up the notebook he'd used earlier, and drew another array on a sheet of paper and handed it to Hughes. "Here, it's easier to start with the array. Try something simple. It's the same idea, but you have to actually follow the change in your mind. The pencil is made of graphite and wood. Change it into something else."

Roy watched expectantly as Hughes placed the pencil in the middle of the array. "Try to use whatever part of your mind that you first used when you were learning ninjutsu. Whatever caused it to go wrong, try that."

Hughes looked vaguely apprehensive, but turned his attention to the sheet of paper anyway. If he hadn't indirectly suggested the idea himself, he wouldn't have even tried it. But he'd gotten Roy to try ninjutsu, so it was only fair, even though he wasn't ready to accept the possibility that he was, by some strange effect of travelling between his home and here, suddenly able to understand alchemy. Despite the resistance of his conscious mind, he closed his eyes and tried to reawaken the part of his mind that he'd tried to repress so many months ago. He'd taken what he needed and left it there. It still sat at the back of his mind, a buzzing jumble of thoughts and images that seemed to be gathered from all creation. It amazed him that it all fit in his head. He allowed his conscious mind to touch it again, feeling the memories that were not entirely his flow back into the forefront, bringing back that uncomfortable feeling of unsteadiness. Almost without thinking, he moved his fingertips to the edge of the array on the paper. Somehow the random images seemed to guide him. He didn't even consciously think about the elements in the pencil; instead, he followed the atoms in their decomposition, and willed them into place to match the image in his mind. It was an exhilarating process, and Roy couldn't help but share in the excitement as he watched the blue glow rise out of the lines on the paper. The pencil's shape shifted and moved. Hughes seemed to be relishing the feeling of the reaction, slowing it down and dragging it out as long as he could. Roy couldn't blame him though. The first time alchemy worked - actually _worked_ – the feeling couldn't be compared to anything else. And to start out with that much power and understanding… he couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Even he was drunk on the new feeling of understanding, and he'd been an alchemist for years before. How could Hughes' mind have even absorbed all that knowledge without some foundation to build it up from? Maybe he'd understood more of what he'd tried to teach him, after all. He looked down at the table. In the middle of the circle sat another fork. Its handle was made of wood, while the actual fork was made out of the graphite. Hughes lay back on the couch looking slightly flushed. His breathing was a bit heavier than usual, and he didn't even bother to look proud of himself.

"Wow Hughes. That is a good fork."

"Thanks.

"Are you all right?"

"Fine. Just a little dizzy, that's all."

"I think you enjoyed that a little too much."

"I might have. Wow. That was _nothing_ like controlling chakra. It's like… just opening up a gate and trying your best to control the power that comes through. How do you deal with that?"

"You get used to it."

"No, really?"

"Really? Normally it isn't like that at all. You have to make a lot of effort to gather the power. I'm guessing that this is an after-effect of going through that gate," Roy shrugged. "All those images – they seem to change the way your mind controls the reaction. You were using that, weren't you?" Hughes gave a small nod, still half in shock, half retracing what he'd done in his mind. Roy added "And you're still going to have to teach me about this chakra stuff. And I'm not going to let you show me up on that fork. Remember that all I had to work with were chopsticks."

Hughes laughed and stood up, shaking himself out of his reverie.

"If you teach me how to control my alchemy more effectively, it's a deal. I can't go losing myself like that every time I do it." He stretched his arms, and instinctively checked that his knives were still in place. "That was an amazing way to get sidetracked, but you still don't know anything about living in this village."

"I know that people wear fishnet, that the head of the village is the Hokage, and that everyone here is a ninja. What more do I need to know?" Roy joked.

"How about the ranks, what we do here, how we do it, and how people around here think and go about their days? And what sort of favour the Hokage would owe two guys that were making out in the woods. Aren't you curious about what I've been doing since I got here?"

"I guess you'd better start from the beginning, then."


	4. From the Sky

(I still don't like leaving Author's Notes at the beginning of chapters, but I wanted to say something really quick... I actually finished this story up last night, on time! I don't think I actually would have finished either, if it wasn't for the people who left reviews. Thank you! There's a lot of plot-tweaking I'm doing now, and I'll slowly be posting chapters up through December until it's through. The three chapters I'm posting today and tomorrow are probably my least favourite out of the entire thing, so please ummm... go easy on them. I felt like experimenting in first person, and at times I think I let Hughes stray a bit too much from his character, but this is the only section like this and I needed to do _something_ to make basically retelling the Naruto storyline more interesting. Sorry. Now, on with the story! (Oh.. and if you're following this you might want to bookmark the story directly or something, because I'm being evil and moving it around to different categories when I update.))

* * *

I stood in the woods, facing two men who didn't seem to be any more than halfway into their twenties. Until a few seconds before, they'd seemed to be cuddling, just stealing a few minutes alone. Obviously the last thing they expected was to be caught. I looked down at my uniform. It was dirty and covered in leaves, and there was a small hole in the centre of the chest where I'd been shot, but there was no wound. I tried to get my bearings as quickly as possible, but my mind echoed with all kinds of strange images. In a way, I'd already seen that I'd land here in front of these two. They pushed themselves apart, but still remained close, fingers brushing against each other. They watched me with matching startled and confused looks. I stood and brushed the leaves off of myself, and decided that the best way to find things out quickly would be to pretend I already knew what was going on. Of course, it was hard to cover for suddenly falling from the sky.

"What are you doing here?" I tried. They continued to stare at me like I was some kind of ghost.

"What are _you_ doing here," asked the blonder of the two. He wore a bandana over his head, and at some point between snuggling with his partner and addressing me, he had started chewing on a metal needle. It gave him a very odd nonchalant quality. His friend stood tall next to him, bandana tied over his head in much the same way, only the front of his had a sort of metal plate with a leaf symbol on it. He watched me like a hawk, though something behind his eyes seemed to show that he was more worried about something else. Finally, he spoke up.

"We can tell that you're not from any village by your clothes. There's no reason for you to be following us, so what were you doing?"

"I was lost in the woods."

The blond stared straight at me and laughed.

"Right. Please tell us the truth. Look, you caught us fair and square, and we're not lying to you. I can sense your chakra now, but there was nothing at all around here a few seconds ago. Either that is one amazing concealing jutsu you've been using, or you just dropped from the sky."

I decided that the truth was the best way to go. It was possible that they were bluffing about the chakra, but I didn't think it was very likely. So much here was completely different, and it's amazing what being dropped into a totally different world does to what you're willing to accept as the truth.

"Honestly, it was the latter. I have no idea how it happened," I shrugged. Lying would only dig me a bigger hole.

The two seemed to think about that for a while. I imagine they were trying to imagine a way that I could have been dropped from the sky. They both seemed to reach a conclusion at the same time.

"I imagine you were thrown here from one of the cities by some sort of accident. You should probably come back to the village with us; we can't just leave you out here. Promise us that you won't tell anyone what you saw, and we'll take care of everything else."

I knew better than to let the offer pass by. When someone offers you a way out of a situation without actually explaining yourself, you take it. I could play along, and I didn't mind keeping their secret for them. They seemed to make a very nice couple, though it wasn't anything I was used to seeing. For some reason, I didn't allow myself to accept at first that they might be in love. I guess at the time I wasn't exactly worried about reading people properly.

I offered them my hand.

"The name's Hughes."

The blond was the first one to take it.

"Genma. And this is Hayate."

I turned to face him, and shook his hand as well. Now that the matter with me was mostly resolved, he seemed even more absorbed in his worries. It didn't seem to suit him. He looked far too young and healthy to be worrying about anything so seriously. I decided to look into it later and see if I could help in any way. I felt a strange gratitude to the two men. It was a one in a million chance that I'd be lucky enough to fall onto two people so kind. I didn't appreciate until much later though what could have happened to me if they hadn't been the first ones to find me. Very few people in Konoha were as accepting of unusual things as they were, and they woods were always full of the wrong sort of people who could have picked me up and used me as a spy. Or killed me.

"We're going to have to sneak you back into the village. It won't be easy because the guards are good at seeing through most genjutsu, but you'll just have to play along. Luckily we live close to the outside of town, so not many people will see you."

They must have noticed my confused look when they mentioned genjutsu, because they both looked over at each other and shared an amused look. Hayate looked me up and down again.

"You really aren't from anywhere near here, are you?"

"You could say that."

"You don't know about ninjutsu?"

"Well… no." Lying about the fact would have only kept me from learning valuable information, and they would have seen through my lie anyway.

A smirk crossed Genma's face.

"We could train him, Hayate. Haven't you always wanted an apprentice?"

A rare smile crossed Hayate's face.

"It's not fair that they won't let the specialists teach. Just because we aren't as well-rounded as the rest of the Jounin… but Sarutobi owes us a favour, too. He'd probably learn more from him, and we all know the old man's lonely. We'll still have to take care of him, anyway, and that should be much more fun."

The two continued to discuss me like I wasn't even there. Though I didn't know it at the time, this was very unusual behaviour for the two of them. After that day they treated me very well, almost like I'd been friends with them for years instead of weeks. I only found out later that I'd fallen down on the same day that Hayate had been diagnosed with a very serious illness that would slowly drain his health away. He was doing all he could to forget about it. As soon as he'd found out, he'd sought out Genma for comfort, and threw himself into any distraction he could find. They'd gone out into the woods to get away from the village's curious eyes. Soon we reached the gates of the village. The same symbol from their bandanas – I saw now that it was on the back of Genma's as well – was painted onto the two doors.

They kept back within the trees for a moment, turning to me.

"We've decided that we can't hide you completely, so we're going to have to pretend that you're a traveller we found. Travellers around here are rare, but they do come through. We can worry about explaining the rest later, because they won't ask us too many questions. Your clothes, however, are going to cause more trouble than they're worth."

For a second, I was afraid they were going to try to strip me. I really hoped I wouldn't have to walk into the village for the first time stark naked – it wasn't the sort of first impression I'd like to give the place I'd probably be in for the rest of my life. Thankfully, I saw Genma start to perform some hand seals. There was a bit of a poof, and for a moment it tingled a little where my clothes touched my skin. They didn't seem to fit any different, so I assumed the change was an illusion. Instead of my uniform, suddenly I was wearing a worn dark brown traveller's coat over an array of black clothes. A large pack was slung over my back, but it added no extra weight to what I was carrying.

"Now, stop looking so surprised and follow us," Genma smiled.

They flanked me on both sides and escorted me into the village. Amazingly, there were very few questions. The two guards didn't seem to be able to see through the disguise on my clothes, but I imagined that was only because they weren't looking for it. Obviously my actual appearance hadn't been disguised. All I had to do was nod in agreement to the answers Genma and Hayate gave. "Is he any threat?" No. "Is he wanted for anything?" No. The question of my business in the village was a bit harder to answer, and though it was asked directly to me, Hayate covered for me, saying I was a lost traveller who had stumbled across them practicing jutsus and probably seen too much. They assured them that they would take me to the Hokage and find out what to do with me. The proposition sounded vaguely threatening, but I decided to trust them anyway.

Quickly they ushered me into the village and down a few streets to Genma's apartment. It was a small place, but comfortable. They decided that I would live with Hayate for the time being, since he hardly ever lived in his house anyway, and it would help with keeping up appearances if someone was living in there. Few people would actually check to see if it was really him. The atmosphere between the two of them when they were in the comfort of their home was completely casual, without any pretence, and they were quick to accept me into their little circle of two. I had indeed been very lucky to have them find me, and they seemed happy to have someone else to share their secrets with. I couldn't understand why they took so quickly to trusting me. Maybe there was sort of innocence that could be assumed for someone who just randomly fell down through the trees.

After a small lunch they started explaining the village to me. They really seemed to enjoy having someone around to listen to everything they thought of the place. In hindsight, a lot of what Genma told me was a straight-out lie, but for the most part Hayate would correct him. The only really useful information I got out of them was how the village worked politically. Everyone was trained as a ninja from a very young age, and they were slowly filtered out into different positions depending on their level of skill. Every child in the village attended the academy, which focused mainly on the basic ninja skills needed to live in the village, and basic elementary school learning. It was common to fail to move on and become an actual ninja genin. Even fewer genin went on to become chuunin and gain the right to command small squads of ninjas for missions themselves. It took a lot of skill and tactical understanding to become a chuunin, and even those that were strong in power and knew their jutsus well may not make it to that rank. The chuunin exams, they explained, were a bit event in the village and were actually coming up soon. I could watch them if I'd like, and maybe learn something from them. Hayate would be put in charge of refereeing the matches, as always. Apparently it was a job he'd grown rather fond of – one of the few where he actually got to interact with the younger ninjas, and he was very unlikely to ever give it up.

Slightly above the chuunin were the Anbu, specialized hunter ninjas utilized by the village to protect its secrets. Unlike the other ranks, it was possible to skip being an Anbu. They were the most active group when it came to information control, and naturally the idea of the group intrigued me. It seemed a lot like the intelligence department in Central and my old job in the military, only much more dangerous and up-close. I considered myself lucky that the worst I was ever asked to do as far as information control was destroy a few secret documents. I'd never been asked to kill anyone. Within the Anbu though, killing seemed to be a large part of the job. The highest of the Anbu though, were often pardoned from the dirtiest of the work, instead sent to gather information themselves. Konoha was unlike other villages in that respect. Most others sent more expendable people and didn't care whether they returned or not. It was a sacrifice they were willing to take. Instead, they trained groups especially for the task, and they rarely failed in their missions.

At the upper end of these specially trained ninjas began the specially ranked Jounin. It was this group that both Genma and Hayate belonged to. They were especially good at one specific jutsu or type of jutsu, and lacked the general overall skills of the full Jounin. Most of the ninjas that made it past chuunin rank ended up here, because few saw the need to continue to study broadly. It took a lot of skill to continue to study everything at a high level, and focusing on one strong point was more useful to a ninja who would be completing missions regularly, anyway.

Near the very top of the metaphorical ladder were the jounin. They trained in everything thoroughly, never seeming to stop even after they'd been promoted. They were the ones that were capable of aiming for Hokage, or at the very least a nearly mythical status as ninjas of the Hidden Leaf. They were also the ones given the duty of training the genin to become chuunin, though they were free to fail their students for any reason, even if they didn't feel like teaching. Only one was rumoured to be that fickle though, and even he'd taken students recently.

Finally, at the pinnacle of the Konoha village hierarchy sat the Hokage, the fire shadow. He – or later she – was the most powerful ninja in Konoha. Each of the Hokage was legendary for something, and their mastery of the jutsus was nothing short of intimidating. It was hard to believe that so much information could fit into a human mind, but it did. They were in charge of the entire village, and knew everything that went on in it and most of what went on outside of it. It was the Third, Sandaime, Hokage that I was to meet to do my training.

-------

"Wait, wait, wait," Roy stifled a yawn and glared at Hughes. "This isn't doing me a bit of good, Hughes. The only thing you've actually told me is the ranks. You could have told me that without the story. Is there a point to this?"

"I'm getting to it. I promise that there's a real point in here somewhere. You'll appreciate it later. And at least if someone asks you questions about me you'll be able to cover for me."

"Does that mean you're telling me the same lie you've been telling them?"

"Maybe…"

"I find that hard to believe."

"Ok, fine. You know I like to tell stories. I don't have anyone else I can explain this to - getting it all in order makes me feel better about all of it."

"Something tells me you're foreshadowing something here, then."

"Like I said, this place is always changing. It's just that in the last two months or so we've seen a lot more change than we imagined we would."

"And you promise this will actually come up in your story?"

"Yes."

"And this doesn't just have to do with them changing the flavour of the day on Tuesdays at the Ramen shop, does it?"

"Why are you bringing the Ramen shop into this?"

"I saw you staring at the woman there as we were coming in."

"Wha… _what?!_" Hughes blushed slightly and looked vaguely embarrassed. Score!

"Ah ah, it's OK. I don't blame you. I don't imagine there are many women here that are your type." Roy smirked as Hughes did his best to keep from looking flustered. Sometimes he was pathetically easy to frazzle.

"She reminds me of Gracia." Roy noted how quickly Hughes' mood changed from embarrassment to a sort of lonely longing. He missed his Gracia. "She's got the same smile."

Roy could see that he'd hit a spot that was still tender. Rather than push the issue, he went against his self-interests and asked Hughes to continue with the story. He knew that, left to brood on certain things, Hughes could get himself into just as much of a depressed funk as anyone else, though his happy exterior would rarely betray it. It was fun to mock him when he could take it, but it was certainly no fun to depress him. He'd taken the jab to lighten the mood, but clearly this wasn't quite the time for it.

"So, what was the training like?"


	5. Way of the Ninja

I first met Sarutobi a few days later. Genma and Hayate had gone before me the day after they'd found me to discuss my training with him. They said it had taken a bit of wheeling and dealing, but what proposition to an old man wouldn't? I only asked once what the favour he had owed them was for, and out of respect to his memory I won't mention what exactly it was. According to the rumours though, it had to do with very powerful yet useless jutsus that were very unbecoming of the head of the village that he'd been caught practicing out in the woods. I imaged that Genma and Hayate had been on their usual walk when they stumbled across them. At least they hadn't dropped from the sky like I had on them; I can only imagine how traumatizing that would have been. It was a wonder anyone went to the woods at all to do things secretly, considering how often they seemed to get caught. A good concealing jutsu around the home would probably do a better job, because those that were interested enough to dispel it would probably follow you to the woods anyway. But I digress.

I must admit when I first walked into the room that served as his office I was a bit intimidated. It reminded me of being called to see the Fuhrer – the way the guards eyed you the entire way, watching for any suspicious activity at all; the way other people in the halls seemed to pity your fate or whisper like grade school kids guessing what you'd done wrong. These premonitions were all dismissed rather quickly once I saw him in person, though. He was indeed quite old, but had an air of benevolence about him; hardly a tyrannical ruler. He'd regained the position after the Fourth had sacrificed himself in a huge battle outside the city several years ago. Some in the village believed that he was past his prime, but it was still true that he was the best ninja they had, and the most experienced as well. Despite his grandson's many supposed assassination attempts throughout the day (I often wished that his impudent tutor Ebisu would exercise some control over him, but he never did), he seemed to be lonely. Most likely though, he just wanted someone to talk to. The ninjas around him had undoubtedly heard his stories many, many times before, or never cared to know them in the first place. I was fresh blood, and given to him expressly for the purpose of listening to him. He seemed to be delighted, though when my concentration waned he never failed to remind me that what he was doing was a favour for Genma and Hayate. I think he was reminding himself rather than me.

In the first day, he managed to keep me busy for nearly twelve hours. Luckily the military had always insisted that we keep ourselves in good shape, or else I doubt I would have survived the first week. Apparently for the first day he'd planned to train me on the basics: endurance, concentration, throwing and things. After a few hours though, he found that I was a bit more well-trained than he expected a random traveller from one of the cities to be. It was clear he was a bit suspicious of my origins, but he never directly questioned it. I never understood why, but I never questioned his silence. It made me a little uncomfortable that he wasn't even curious, though. Sometimes I was afraid that he already knew exactly what the truth was, and that he had somehow seen straight through the secret I shared with Genma and Hayate. I hadn't even told them the entire story, though after a month of living with the two of them I caught myself occasionally dropping hints about my home just to share something about it with other people. Nothing specific, but at least I could believe that they knew that I wasn't from anywhere they were likely to ever see. I think they understood that I wanted to go back, and were sorry that I never could.

When we got to shuriken training, I must say I probably impressed Sarutobi. All those bored months I spent inside doing paperwork while the war raged on around me, only semi-secretly practicing my aim were even more useful than I could have imagined. I never really regretted not being on the front lines myself doing the fighting in person, but at times I thought I did. I'd gouged the walls full of holes in different patterns, telling myself that it would someday come in handy when I actually had to protect myself. And who in the military would never have to protect themselves, especially if they were out gathering sensitive information? There were still those on the streets of Central itself that objected to what the military was doing in Ishbar, and they were not likely to distinguish my uniform from that of the front-line soldiers. It was worse in the case of those that knew the officers still at home were truly to blame. They knew that the people they hated were all in Central anyway, and would usually hide in doorways near the headquarters as the men walked out at the end of the day, hurling stones and insults among other things. Originally the military had tried arresting them, but it had only made the problem worse as they cried out against the injustices they saw. In a way, I appreciated what they were doing even though it was me and my friends that their anger was directed at. I was one of those evil men cooped up in Central making life-and-death decisions while people died on the front lines for a dubious cause. Seeing them lash out against it helped me deal with the guilt I felt at not being able to do anything about it personally.

Taking all my skills into account, the Third quickly decided that it would be well worth the effort to train me fully as a ninja. Once I got the hang of controlling chakra, I'd be well on my way, and near the upper levels of the genin rank. At least, that was what he'd seemed to imply. I wondered what kind of strings he would be pulling to do so. I knew that there was traditionally a whole succession of exams and tests that a shinobi would have to go through. But if anyone could get around them it would be the Hokage. I suddenly appreciated what Genma and Hayate had done for me by putting me in his care. This way I would be able to learn without letting the whole village know that a strange man had suddenly appeared and started training. Sarutobi obviously had his own reasons for training me. While we talked, I had hinted at my experience in the intelligence department, and he mentioned the newer squads of information-gathering Anbu he planned on forming in the future. The village would need it, he said.

Though I had finished his tests early the first day, he claimed it would be unseemly to let me go early. Instead, he decided that I should learn at least a little history of the village. This would be the first of many stories he would tell me during the time I knew him. The history of the village was actually not more than a few generations, as evidenced by the fact that he was only the third Hokage the village had seen (though the Fourth had served for a few years in the middle of his lifetime). What was interesting, though, was how the separate ninja villages had been formed. It seemed to be one of his favourite stories.

_Long ago_… all his stories invariably started with "Long ago," regardless of whether they actually took place long ago or not. He could have been talking about his morning and it would have started with long ago. It seemed to be a convention he was rather overly-fond of. It was just a small thing, though. Anyway…

_Long ago the continent was one whole. Not a solid whole, but one large swath of land where people had settled in small villages here and there. It was not unusual for travellers to go between them, and trade was strong. It wasn't long though, before human nature won out and petty disagreements grew between them. They began to form alliances as the rifts grew bigger, some broke apart, and inevitably among the ever-changing landscape of friendship and enemies between the villages, wars started. Somewhere in the middle of all this sat one man who spent his time thinking not how to fix the actual problem, but how to make things ideal. Oddly enough, after a few years of tiresome fighting and building of power, people started to believe him. He preached that each of the cities should be self-contained and self-sufficient, with its own group of guardians to ensure its safety. They would be sustained entirely by the work of those people of the village, with no need for outside help. Their only job would be the pursuit of perfection of the body and the soul. From the very beginning of their lives, all the children of the village, no matter who they were born to, would be trained to attain the level of these guardians, and having that rank would be the ultimate honour. The idea of this perfect force of people appealed to those in the wars, and the man's ideas were widely adopted, despite the protests of some as to how ridiculous the idea really was. But it worked, at least for a while. However, inevitably this system began to break down, and only the offspring of the guardians were accepted to be trained as guardians. _

_The guardians were also largely unhappy, because in creating this system no one had taken their actual feelings into account. They were overworked and, because all the cities had turned their attentions inward to make themselves into the ideal, underappreciated. With no wars to fight, their efforts seemed to the people of the city to be frivolous. Though, if anyone had sat down to think the idea through more thoroughly they would have realized that it was because the guardians were there that they had no wars to fight. None of the cities were yet ready to test their strengths against their neighbours, and because they were all self-sufficient, they had no pressing reason to hurry the process. It was only the guardians' job to think, though, so no one among the actual citizens bothered to go farther than their assumption that the entire lot of them were useless and just taking up valuable resources. Slowly the people of the cities began to forget about their guardians, and it was during this time that the great thinkers discovered what could be done by pushing the mind and body to its absolute limit. After many years of clamouring by the citizens below them, the guardians were forced to give up their control of the government. Slowly the citizens took away their support, and they barely noticed when one day the most respected guardian among the ignored and "useless" people suggested a revolutionary idea. The next day they left their camps in the city and moved out in to the forests. There they divided all the work equally, and continued their training not out of habit, but out of a love for the learning they had been able to do. They soon found that without the citizens of the city serving below them though, they had to concentrate too much of their time on menial tasks rather than contemplation and physical training. Because they were used to pushing themselves to the limit though, they were able to maintain their level as it was, without losing their skill and without having to return to the cities for help. They knew that if they could just wait, the cities would eventually degenerate into what they had been before: warring factions, and come back to them for help. _

_And indeed they did, after only a year. It was then the citizen of the cities that sought out the hidden villages, and it was the only time that the people there made themselves relatively easy to find. Since they had been expecting the need of their services, the men (and women, for the guardian class was one of the few that treated them equally) of the hidden villages, now calling themselves by the name of shinobi, played the citizens' desperation to their advantage. They refused to give up the secrets they had discovered, and refused to go back to the cities themselves and protect them directly. Instead, they asked for a portion of the citizens to come live with them in the villages to serve them, and in turn they would provide protection for the people of the city for a small price each time. They would never go to war as an army against another city, only protect those that paid them. They held complete control over who they would protect and when, effectively stopping the all-out wars between the cities. _

---------

"I see where this is going," Roy interrupted. "You tell stories exactly like he did. He must have had a pretty big influence on you."

"He did."

"What happened to him, then?"

"I'll get to that. I've only got a month and a half to cover."

"A month and a half?! As far as I can tell you've only made it through two days so far. At this rate, I'll be listening to you for a month and we'll never get anything done."

"Sorry, I'll try to speed it up, then. Not much happened for the next month, anyway. Except training, and telling you about all the jutsus I had to learn would get tedious after a while."

"Hearing about warring cities isn't?"

"I was just trying to develop Sarutobi's character."

"Spare me, please. I'd like to get to sleep sometime before tomorrow."

"You know what, just for that I'm going to spend even _more_ time telling you things you don't need to know about people."

"I should have seen this coming." Roy shook his head, but the amusement showed on his face and Hughes took the cue to continue.

"You brought it on yourself…"

---------

The next month seemed to pass remarkably quickly. For the most part I preferred to spend time with Genma and Hayate when I could. I understood why Hayate never stayed in his house if he could be at Genma's. Though Genma's apartment was smaller, it was much cosier, and he was a very welcoming host. When we had days off together – and Sarutobi was often kind enough to see that we did – we'd sit and talk for hours. I was homesick, and I needed days like that. At first the conversations were mostly between the two of them, but they didn't seem to mind me sitting there listening. They had invited me, after all. It was from them that I learned almost everything I know about the actual people of the village. I was kept separate for a very long time, simply because Sarutobi was training me personally, and I was an outsider to begin with. It's only been recently that people have started recognizing me on the streets, though the rumours about me started not too long after I came. In fact, I remember the first time Genma and Hayate took me out for ramen. It had come up almost as a joke – that they should introduce me to the public, and I should have my debut at Ichiraku. It would be ideal, because we agreed that it was best not to introduce me to everyone at once since they would surely be too curious to deal with all together. Plus at the time of day they decided to take me, few people were ever at the Ichiraku anyway. At least they could pretend that they'd tried.

When we arrived, we were the only people there aside from the employees. The man smiled and made small-talk as he served us, and we sat and joked about my big debut in the village. After about an hour another ninja joined us inside, but merely sat in the corner eating, barely seeming to pay attention to our conversation. He seemed to have the attention of the female shopkeeper the entire night, which oddly made me slightly jealous. But that's not important. You would think by the way I've been leading up to this that maybe this night involved actually meeting someone, or maybe some big revelation on someone's part. But really I'm just messing with you. Or maybe I'm trying to paint a pastoral picture of our odd little family, so you appreciate the story more later on. Perhaps both.

But the truth is that almost nothing of note happened for the next month. Hayate's sickness got worse for a few weeks, then his strength slowly began to return. It seemed to hit a plateau near the end of the first month. He was still pale and he occasionally couldn't sleep at night because of his coughing, but he dealt with it remarkably well. Though I was supposed to be using the space in Hayate's apartment for myself, I often found myself spending a larger part of my time with the two of them at Genma's. It seemed to be Hayate that understood me best. He too had lost something, and though it wasn't quite the same as losing the family you'd planned to spend the rest of your life taking care of, he was still without something he'd been used to having for a very long time. There were a few weeks when he had to cut back on his training, and during those weeks when I could I stayed in the apartment with him, just talking. He was the one I came closest to telling the truth to. I'm not sure, but sometimes I doubt if he even would have believed me. At least, he wouldn't have argued. Genma was the sceptical one, always questioning things sarcastically. He seemed lazy outwardly, but his mind was always working. Kind of like someone else I know…

Normally I wouldn't mention this, but I think under the circumstances it's fine if I do. Over the few weeks we'd known each other, we grew remarkably close. It was bond I don't imagine many men have ever shared. I could lay in bed for hours in the morning with them just talking. It wasn't even strange that we all shared the same bed. The first time I was over late, I was talking to Hayate as usual as Genma sat on the kitchen counter and listened, occasionally adding in his own little sarcastic comments. I didn't realize how tired I was until I fell asleep on the table during one of Genma's rare long ramblings. The next morning I woke up in their bed between the two of them, and it just felt right.

-------

"So after that night I let all my inhibitions around them go. And it wasn't the only night I spent in bed with them. I wonder what the neighbours thought…." He paused, hoping that by now Roy would have at least reacted to _something_ he said. It was hopeless, he was lost somewhere else entirely. Well, if making up stories wasn't getting his attention... "And I know you're not paying attention at all Roy."

Hughes leaned over across the couch to where his friend was simply staring off into space, tapping a pencil against the notebook on the table. There was only way to retrieve him when he zoned out like this. He whispered a few words into Roy's ear… nothing. He grinned evilly and, contrary to his usual backup plan (yelling "Oh my god look it's the Fuhrer!"), he licked his ear. This got the reaction he was looking for.

Roy practically jumped out of his skin.

"Oh my god! What the… What on _Earth_ are you trying to do?"

"You weren't paying any attention." Hughes said, trying his best to look innocent and slightly offended.

"Oh…" he hesitated long enough to glare at Hughes. "So you _lick_ me? What have these people here taught you?"

"It got your attention." Hughes' grin bordered on maniacal as Roy scrubbed at his ear furiously with his hand. "What were you thinking of that was so much more interesting than my story?" He did his best to look hurt, but he was used to Roy tuning him out. It was a shame he hadn't thought of the licking thing sooner. It seemed to be twice as effective as any other way to get his attention. Roy grinned back at him, but kept his hand protectively over his ear.

"I think I've got this chakra thing figured out."

"Oh?"

"If I just use the forces themselves, rather than try to rearrange things, I think it would work. Here," he moved the notebook to the centre of the coffee table in front of Hughes. "I think I can 'henge' this."

"You can what?"

"Isn't henge the word for it?"

"Well, yes. But it's not really a verb… or, at least, you can't stick it in the middle of sentences like that. It sounds strange. Just say transform or something, ok?"

"Ok…" Roy gave Hughes a sceptical look – he wasn't normally someone to nitpick about language. He imagined there was some sort of story behind it, but the thought of adding yet another story to the list Hughes had in mind to tell him was enough to stop the question long before it reached his lips. "Anyway, I think I can _transform_ this notebook now."

Hughes didn't question why Roy was hesitant to suggest trying to transform himself physically again. He simply nodded, and watched as Roy formed the hand-seal, properly this time. The notebook disappeared with a poof and was replaced with a small glass of milk. Roy looked down at it.

"It's really rather impressive, isn't it, to think that you can use chakra to turn an object into something else that has almost nothing to do with what it was originally? Even if it is technically an illusion." Roy stared at it. "I wonder what happens if I try to drink it…" He picked up the glass and held it to his lips. Hughes reached over and grabbed it back.

"Please don't drink my notebook, there might be something important in there. It's getting late. Do you want to go to sleep now, or should I finish my story?"

"Do you promise it'll be over before daybreak?"

"Yes, I've got errands to run tomorrow, and I'll need you to come with me."

"Ok, then. Let's get this over with."

"I'm sorry; I'll get back to the real story now."


	6. Inevitable

It was a month before things actually started happening in the village. Sarutobi continued training me, but shied away from sending me on actual missions. I'm not sure if he thought that I wasn't ready, but I prefer to think that he wanted to keep me a secret until he really needed me. I became a little wary when, about a month after I'd arrived in Konoha, the whole village seemed to tense. Though I was no expert on who was actually from the village and who wasn't, it was clear just by the varied forehead protectors that there were now several hundred new visitors. Genma and Hayate told me that they were from the other hidden villages, here to test their skills to become chuunin. The trials were about to start. I could tell that Hayate was excited. He'd begged to keep his job, and luckily those in charge of the exam had relented and let him stay on. His illness was improving in many ways, and he'd gone on missions to prove his strength again. For a while, everyone seemed genuinely excited. 

Occasionally I caught glimpses of some of the other ninjas in the village. It was amazing to see that so many of them were just children. Between twelve year's old and about fifteen, certainly no older than Ed and Al were before… I left. It had amazed me that, at twelve, Ed had made the decision to join the military despite the fact that, should a war come up, he would have to fight. And war was never an unlikely thing. I suppose it wasn't quite the same here, because these children were raised in this lifestyle, but as an outsider the idea still amazed me. I had joined the army at 19 after my mother was done schooling me and I'd run out of books in my father's study. There were no public schools in Central, so kids had to rely on their families to educate them, or try to educate themselves. I'd always been attracted to the military way of life, not only because it was my father's way of life but because it was the only path I could take to deal in intelligence. As a kid growing up I'd wanted to be a spy, and given the chance, who could pass up something that was like their childhood dream? Even if in reality the dream included a lot more paperwork and less sneaking around in dangerous places than childhood fantasies took into account. These kids here though, they skipped the step in between. There was no dreaming of being something else when you grew up… you just were. It was a hard concept to grasp.

For the most part I was removed from the exams. I was left to study on my own when Sarutobi had to leave to oversee anything having to do with them, and I could tell that something was starting to bother him more. Something about the way some of the visitors in the village were moving about seemed to show that something was being planned, and I could tell this was bothering Sarutobi too. It was hard for me to find anything else out however, being as hidden from the rest of the village as I was. The first week of the trials passed without event though, and those that were not eliminated were given a month to train for the next part of the trials - a set of individual battles, judged by the nobles themselves. During this month Sarutobi began to intensify my training, and I knew that something was amiss. He was obviously preparing me for something, and I couldn't help but start to suspect the ninjas from the Sound and Sand of some sort of underhanded planning, and I'm afraid I might have given Hayate the same idea. I thought for a while that they were planning ways to cheat in the trials. The guard in the village was almost always up, and though I had never had occasion to witness an event like this in the village before, I could tell that the vigilance was not natural. People were feeling threatened and acting uncomfortable around each other. Most of the special jounin were often sent out to guard the village and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity. I couldn't help but worry about Hayate when he was sent out, because he was still sick as much as he'd rather not admit it.

And the inevitable happened. I cursed myself for being right when I found out. I'd almost seen it coming, but not soon enough. And I hadn't followed him, wasn't able to do anything to save him. They found him the next morning on the roof. He'd obviously heard too much, and when he went to do something about it, they stopped him. Permanently. It reminded me so much of my own death. I'd only known Hayate for a bit more than a month, but it affected me more than I could have imagined. Despite being a soldier, despite living with people who made fighting their life, no one close to me had ever died. At least, no one as close to me as Hayate had been. I feel like I'm glossing over his death, like I should put more weight to it, but I just don't know how. Even now I hate to talk about it. I can imagine Genma would disappear rather quickly too, if you ever mentioned it to him. It was a greater blow when they asked him to take his place overseeing the exams. It was almost symbolic that he did, but he imagined that someone among the other village leaders, one of those that had been conspiring against the leaf, had had a hand in it. That they were in a way mocking him; spiting him.

Soon after Hayate's death, Sarutobi decided that it was time to initiate me into the Anbu. Things were beginning to change quickly. He said that I wouldn't have to worry about taking the actual chuunin exams, because they were for showing off those in the village that the Lords wanted to see. I was not a part of any famous Konoha clan, and therefore not of any interest to them. We had already decided that I wouldn't be doing any work directly for anyone outside of the village. I was sent out on some basic reconnaissance missions to get comfortable with the work. I'm afraid I might have been a little sloppy at first, letting people see me and making it too obvious that I was searching for something. I hadn't yet learned how to conceal my chakra perfectly, and I was still somewhat in shock over what had happened. Genma spent most of his time in his apartment, and I spent most of mine in Hayate's. I had inherited it, in a way, and decided to make the most of it. Without Hayate, time at Genma's house wasn't quite the same. I still visited, but never stayed for as long as before. Inevitably, the conversation turned to sad nostalgia, and all I could do was to try to comfort Genma the best I could. It wasn't the same though, and we slowly grew apart.

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. So much of this happened at the same time that it's hard to keep it all straight in the form of a story. In the field, I quickly learned how to gather information without being noticed. It was easy for me to fall into the guise of the anonymous spy, combing the woods for any information that would do the village good. If nothing else, it kept my mind off of other things. For the rest of the month I pretty much lost myself entirely in my work. I worked myself constantly, to the point where I was too exhausted to think about anything that had happened in the last two months and my old life existed only in a small corner of my subconscious. I blocked it out of my mind entirely.

My first real mission though, was guarding the final round of the chuunin exams. Though I was originally supposed to continue scouting the outskirts of the village for any movements from the Sand and Sound ninjas we'd observed leaving their villages earlier, Sarutobi decided that he'd like to keep me close-by. He seemed almost superstitious about the final round of the exams, constantly nitpicking and worrying over the smallest details. There were only eight Anbu stationed in the arena. It would seem that there were far too few of us to get anything under control if things went wrong, but unfortunately we couldn't afford to spare any more for guards, and we couldn't make it look like we suspected that things were being planned behind our backs. We all hoped that nothing would go wrong, and if it did that the genin, who were unusually strong that year, would be able to do something to help. If things went wrong, we'd assumed that they would start outside the arena, using the festivities as a distraction to get the best of us.

For the longest time I wondered how Sarutobi didn't notice that the Kazekage – the head of the Wind village – wasn't himself. I was terrified of any ninja that could pull off a genjutsu so thorough that not even the best ninja in our village could detect it. Then, I realized what he had done. Everyone here does it. Sarutobi had trained Orochimaru himself… and we can recognize people by the feel of their chakra. We tend to ignore the presence of familiar chakra, or at least let it fade into the background. The real Kazekage and Orochimaru both fit into that category. If anyone else but his sensei had been the Hokage, I doubt he ever would have been able to get so close. It was a truly evil plan. And when his minions sealed the two of them behind a barrier to fight alone, the only thing my squad could do was watch. I'm sure Sarutobi knew it was coming, and had resigned himself to the fight in many ways long ago. It seemed to go on for months, though in reality it was probably no more than fifteen minutes. All I could do was stand and watch. We were useless, in the end. Battles went on outside in the village, but we stayed watching, almost frozen. There was nothing we could do, but we watched anyway, hoping for some sort of opening so we could bring the battle to an end. In the end, he died nobly. Maybe he planned it that way. He'd always had a quixotic side, and probably wanted to die in a way that would prove to the village that he wasn't weak. Everyone was glad that he had managed to disable the one seen as biggest threat to Konoha, but I still find it hard to believe that he's through with us. Considering his connections, and his ability to convince others to go against us, we are far from out of the woods. I don't doubt that he'll find a way around his inability to use his arms. Heaven forbid they ever discover how to make automail here.

------

"I'm sorry; I'm going to have to stop here. This was only a few weeks ago, so the memories are pretty fresh. I can catch you up on the last bits in the morning."

Roy didn't break eye contact with Hughes and just nodded. He was never the type to openly commiserate, but Hughes knew he'd tuck what he'd learned away somewhere deep in his mind for later. He'd been paying attention this time. He always knew when to, somehow. Roy stretched and leaned back on the couch with a sigh, returning to his usual nonchalant façade.

"Wow, it's not even light out yet. It must be what, 2 in the morning? I'm impressed."

"I'll sleep out here on the couch; you can have the bed again. I'll be up early tomorrow, but I'll wait until you're awake to do my errands. You should see the village properly."

"How kind of you." Roy was not quite sarcastic. "But I'll be fine on the couch, I'm not injured anymore."

"No, I insist. Sleep in the real bed. You'll regret asking for the couch once I take the bed back."

"What? You're not going to get me a bed?" Roy pretended to look hurt.

"Not when there's a perfectly good couch."

"But you just said it's _not_ perfectly good…"

"What, do you want to share the bed?"

Roy picked up one of the throw pillows and threw it at Hughes' head. "I'm going to sleep. See you in the morning."

He wandered into the bedroom and threw most of the clothes left on the bed onto the floor. He'd intended to stare at the ceiling and try to sort out the events of the day, but exhaustion soon overtook him. Everything from the last few days blurred together into a strange slideshow of images that weaved it way through is dreams. Outside in the living room Hughes lay on the couch listening to Roy. Once he was certain the other man was asleep, he stretched out on the couch and curled up with the pillow. If life could come up with anything weirder to throw at him, he'd like to see it.


	7. In Subcon

(I'm going to accept that this short Author's Note thing is inevitable. Just a quick note to some of the people who have left reviews (in addition to THANK YOU!)... Ed won't show up in the story for a while, but I promise there is a good reason for that. I was actually considering adding a short chapter in here about him because it's about the only other place it'll fit, but it's not written yet so if it appears... I'll tell you. And this is the last chapter in first person (actually I can't guarantee that, I haven't written the entire ending yet). Don't worry if you don't "get" this chapter, it's not supposed to make sense until later, anyway. And I will shamefully admit that a small part of it was actually based on the dream I had the night before I wrote it (and it's not the part you think, either)... This is short too, so another chapter's probably going up tonight as well.)

* * *

_  
I'm walking down the street, but no one here speaks my language. They haggle and bargain, that much is fairly obvious. Random faces in the crowd look familiar, but that's all. No one makes eye contact with me. It's like I'm not there at all; a ghost walking among them. A passing man with a bushel of apples seems to glance at me. He smiles a smile only I am meant to see. I don't know how I know this. He nods, letting me know I'm on the right track. He's happy to know that I'm looking, but though I'm in the right place I'm in the wrong place at the same time. I don't know how I know this, either. What I'm looking for is here, but I don't know that I'm looking for it. He's not home, either. None of us are, anymore. He seems to communicate hundreds of emotions and ideas all at once to me, and I am briefly overwhelmed. He's satisfied though, so I am too. I fade out. The vision fades to black. I am vaguely aware that I'm dreaming, but I push the thought away for fear of waking up. It's not often that my dreams are this calm. _

_Suddenly I'm floating through the darkness, disembodied but still there. I'm dressed in all blue, but it's not my uniform. Others drift past in other colours. I don't know them at all. They look determined, but only outwardly so. An act. To what possible end, I wonder? They look at me expectantly. Unlike before, they can see me now, and they see me as one of them. Am I only determined on the outside? They leave on separate animals. A horse appears for me, a shade of blue so dark it's almost black. I ride it away, not even bothering to question it. I go with the flow. It's a rare thing, but I am quiescent. Maybe apathetic. It doesn't matter, though. I ride out, and the world fades to black again._

_It goes from black to grey. I'm still in blue, but this time it really is my military uniform. I curiously check the epaulettes, but my dream keeps me from seeing them. I am inside a building; grey walls grow up on all sides, extending far into the distance. The room is impossibly large, but finitely small at the same time. Somehow, a small city is built into it. It's grey as well. There are few people here, and many of the small buildings are falling apart. I look behind me. There are stairs leading to a small dark exit. Where I came in, I assume. No use going back that way. A few of my staff appear behind me. They've always been there, though I also know they weren't there before. They say nothing, just stand behind me. I look up. The ceiling is falling in. The world within this building is being crushed as it caves in. Everything is still grey. Out in the ruins I can see the outline of my friend – a ghost now, dressed in his old uniform, only now it is totally black, and shows his newer rank. And though I would have believed it before I know now that at least that part isn't true. Apparently I've already engraved that fact into my subconscious. We watch, transfixed. A mother and her child huddle in the ruins as larger parts of the ceiling begin to fall. Their skin is brown; their eyes red. I don't need to have this dream again. The guilt returns to me, though it was never truly gone. I stand at the edge of the stairs, helpless. I blame myself for the falling ceiling. It was my mind that created it, after all. My fault. I watch, staring on as the situation gets more precarious. The ghost of my friend moves and huddles over the two of them, protecting them. They can't see him, but they know what he's doing. Maybe they can sense him. He's always been like this. I silently thank him. The world fades out again._

_It's white this time. Pure white. Nothingness. The end of all things, and here I am. I feel that there is an impending judgement. I wait. It starts with echoing questions from all directions. What good have I done? I don't know. What use have I been? Some, I hope. I've done what I could! My own conviction surprises me. The self-doubt rises out of me. It feels good to get it out. I hope it stays away. The whiteness is broken by the outline of a large black door. It looms in front of me. I've seen it before. This time the doors are shut tight, but a small amount of light creeps out from the bottom. Maybe it's from the whiteness around me. The door doesn't seem to be the type to have any light behind it. The doors open a crack. Eyes stare out at me, and things fade out to black again._

_A flash of the city market again. The man from before looks concerned, then he's gone again and I'm alone floating in the darkness in blue. This time it's still the uniform. It's like I live in it. The kids fly by again on their animals, but they're slightly different this time. Green, yellow, black, even pink. Bringing up the rear is one dressed in red. He alone looks familiar. He is older, but he is still himself. His look alone is of true determination. Instead of an animal, he rides a rocket. His expression is almost wild. He too is close to what he wants, but he too is looking in the wrong place. Launching himself off towards the sun. He should know better than to fly towards the sun again. I stand and watch as he flies off into the distance again. The rocket explodes just before it is out of sight. It has the feeling of a premonition. My dreams never include premonitions, though. I discount it. I know now for sure that I'm dreaming, and nothing will allow me to forget it and keep sleeping. Brightness eats at the edge of the black, but this time I know it's only sunlight coming in through the open windows. It must be morning. I wake up. Stretch. I haven't felt this awake in years. I feel like one of those happy-go-lucky optimistic morning people that I'd spent so many years hating._


	8. Premonition?

Hughes stretched and rolled off the couch. He stood and massaged the back of his neck to work the tightness out. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spent two nights in a row on the couch. It certainly hadn't been this painful when he had, though. Maybe he was getting old. He looked over towards the bedroom, and was shocked to see Roy poke his head out around the corner. If he didn't have to be, Roy was hardly ever up before ten. And here it was, probably eight in the morning. Not only was he awake, he was dressed as well. Then again, he'd probably fallen asleep in his clothes. Come to think of it, Hughes hadn't heard anything from the bedroom all night. It was rare for Roy to sleep soundly. It was hard to believe that he had, but Hughes convinced himself that he would have known if Roy had snuck out on his own over the course of the night.

"Morning!" Roy smiled and waved at Hughes.

"Are you planning something? You're never up this early."

"I know. It's weird isn't it? It must be the change of scenery."

Hughes looked Roy up and down. He had indeed gotten more sleep than usual. It had really been a good idea to give up the bed. He rubbed his neck again. This would unfortunately be the last night he'd give Roy that luxury though, if only to stop the cheery anomaly that was Roy awake in the morning. It wasn't fun not to be able to wake him up and watch the grumpy look on his face as he squinted at the sunlight. This was simply unnatural.

"Did you have some sort of revelation last night or something?"

"You could say that… it was just a dream, though. I don't know why it's put me in such a good mood. It didn't make any sense."

"Hmm." Hughes walked over to the door and slipped on his shoes. "Well, in that case we should take advantage of this rarity and do our errands now."

"Without breakfast?"

"We'll pick it up on the way out. Come on. We've got a lot to do today."

Roy looked down at his feet.

"Take off the socks, I don't want you to get them dirty. We'll buy shoes first."

Roy reluctantly pulled off his socks and followed Hughes out the door into the morning light. Despite the early hour, the village was busy. People wandered the streets running their various errands, and none of them seemed to pay them any mind. Roy ignored the odd sense of déja-vu. They stopped briefly at one of the little stores to pick up breakfast, then walked down the road a bit more until Hughes stopped in front of a small shop. Boxes of shoes were stacked in the windows, and a strange old lady sat behind a counter inside. Under normal circumstances, Roy would have immediately pegged it as a front for some other sort of covert organization, but he let it pass. Go with the flow. He smiled as he followed Hughes inside. The place smelled like old paper and cardboard. The scene was simply bizarre. All the shoes seemed exactly the same. At least, the style was the same. Some had open toes and heels, others didn't. A few were black, most were blue. Outside the window no one so much as glanced at the storefront. It gave the feeling that maybe it wasn't even there. It was eerie. The lady gave the two of them a smile – the sort you would expect from an old woman sitting in an odd shop that may or may not really exist.

"Hello, gentlemen." Her accent was startling. It didn't match anyone else's in Konoha, but it didn't have the same beat and pattern of speech as Roy and Hughes', either. It reminded Roy of the murmur of the people in the market in his dream. He shrugged it off, but he could swear that at the moment he connected the two accents the woman had winked at him. He ignored the feeling. No use adding even more inexplicable things to the mix. "Here for shoes, I see."

She looked down at Roy's bare feet and pulled a box out from behind the counter. Handing the box over to Roy, she said "These ought to fit you well. Try them."

If he hadn't been so convinced that the lady was psychic or something, he would have glared at Hughes for dragging him to such a creepy place. Didn't anyone else here sell shoes? Why did they even need shoe stores if they all wore the same shoes? Hughes stood in the corner and smirked. Apparently he'd been through this as well. Maybe it was some sort of initiation. Or an in-joke among the ninjas. Roy decided he'd do his best to play along. He pulled the shoes on. They were the same shade of blue as the vest Hughes had given him, with open toes and heels – the kind typical of the lower-level ninjas in the village. Roy didn't mind. They were comfortable, at least. Strangely comfortable. Roy decided to quit while he was ahead and get out of the store before it seriously started to creep him out. He nodded to the old lady.

"These will be great, thanks." He picked up the empty box and handed it back to her as she rung up the sale. Hughes paid her, and they turned to leave.

"Keep an eye on the gate for me, boys. These things come in threes, and I know the time must be soon if the Rubedo is here with Nigredo. Ah, I knew it was coming. Rubedo is incomplete though… no wonder. He must still be bathed in the flame for a while longer. Funny that he appeared before Albedo, though. Just wait until it's that time of the month again. Two halves, perhaps? I wonder why they're late… Ah, and a messenger at the point. Watch out for blondes, my friends." She smiled an eerie, ominous smile. "Oh, and don't forget your change."

The woman hurried from behind the counter and dropped something into the box Roy was holding. Hughes pushed the door open and they practically ran, as respectfully as they could, away from the shop. A block away, Roy finally looked over at Hughes.

"What the heck was that?" He looked back, and couldn't remember where, exactly, the shop had been. "Isn't there someplace less creepy you could buy me shoes?"

"Actually, no. We all have to go through that. At least she was quick about it for you. I had to listen to her prophecies for almost an hour. She told me the last person to buy shoes like mine had been Orochimaru. Just forget about it, she's a little bit weird. Rumour has it she just showed up in the village one day and started selling shoes, out of the blue. But that was years ago."

"Where are we going next, then? I hope you don't have any more shops like that."

"No. I've got to take you to Tsunade now. I promised her that she could see you after you healed." Hughes punched Roy in the shoulder. "If it wasn't for her, you'd have a much nastier scar there."

"She healed me? Who is she?"

"The new Hokage. Unfortunately she doesn't owe me anything, so it's going to be much harder to get you trained. We're going to have to try, though. She showed some interest in you when I brought you in... Which is odd, come to think of it, since I thought she was with Shizune…"

"Why do I get the feeling that Shizune is a girl?"

"Because she is."

"Is _anyone_ in this village straight?"

"Well, Kakashi might be, judging by the novels he reads. But lots of people seem to think he's with Iruka." He paused a moment. "Actually, even the novels are suspicious. Jiraiya is way too interested in breasts to actually be straight. Maybe it's all a front…"

"… Never mind. I won't ask again." _Go with the flow_ Roy said to himself. _Just go with the flow…_


	9. Reunion and Separation

(A chapter that was not in the original! You guys inspired me, I guess. Parts of this chapter are very heavily influenced by hime1999's alter!series (and if you haven't read it… you should. Check the LJ alter(underscore)series community. Really!). And now you get your Edward! At this point the story moves a bit away from the crossover for awhile and focuses almost entirely on the Elrics (mostly Alphonse). So with this I unceremoniously throw this back into the FMA category, give it a pat on the back, and say "Hi story, at this point in you I was finally less angry at the characters and a real plot starts to develop! Yay!" These author's notes often make no sense, I'm sorry. It's finals week, I'm allowed a little bit of insanity, I hope.)

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Hohenhime Elric wandered through the street market in Munich, watching the people going about their business for the day. He stayed out of it today. He'd done his shopping the day before and now was only out for some fresh air and to watch the people. There was something about these people that was just intrinsically different from the ones he knew at home, and he hoped that maybe if he watched them enough he'd eventually be able to put his finger on what it was. As he walked he glanced down every alleyway. Street sense told him that it was a bad idea, dangerous people lurk and do their business in the alleys, but he looked anyway. It was a part of taking in the entire scene, understanding and analyzing the whole. The habit was wound too far into the very being of his existence that it was impossible to break. It did have its advantages, however, even if they were more often the advantages of those waiting in the alleys. This day was a rare case though – an almost completely improbable coincidence.

It had been odd enough that he'd found him the first time with the help of a stray dog. It had been a rainy day – he was cold and wet, huddled in an alleyway in London not far from where he had found himself a few days before. He had explained the coincidence away as a result of the two of them being sent through at such similar times. Here it was, two entire years later and he was looking at the same sleeping form yet again. He took a step into the alleyway and looked down at the boy, sleeping under a pile of newspapers. Not many children living on the street would have taken the time to _read_ the papers before sleeping under them, however - but there they were, unfolded and put back together messily to form a blanket. This particular boy had also been careful to keep the papers over his arms and legs. Unusual, since most people had the sense to cover their torso instead, since it was where most heat was generated. Especially unusual considering the fact that it was now late spring and it was rarely cold enough to freeze at night. He was surprisingly clean, so obviously he hadn't been in this situation very long. Perhaps now Hohenhime would have a real chance to make everything up to him. This wasn't how he'd wanted it to be, but he could make the most of the situation. He knelt down and nudged the boy to wake him up.

Ed jumped at the touch, scrambling into a defensive position and readying himself for a counter-attack in case the shadow looming over him was a threat. Hohenhime sighed at his reaction, though it didn't surprise him. He blamed himself that his son had been forced to lead a life that would make that reaction an instinct. His regrets haunted him even here, in what would normally be the least likely of places. When the recognition finally shone in the boy's eyes, he offered his hand to him and helped him up. Ed took it and stood, and Hohenhime noted that his right hand had once again returned to cold, hard automail. No wonder he'd paid more attention to covering his limbs when he slept. Looking Ed over more closely, Hohenhime noticed that he was more than a little disoriented. He stood uneasily on his feet, resting his weight against Hohenhime. None of the contempt he had shown him when they had first been reunited showed behind his eyes. Perhaps those feelings had left him in London, though Hohenhime didn't believe it was likely. Without a word he bent down and swung the boy's left arm over his shoulders, walking him out of the alley. The people in the market were still minding their own business, only glancing to the side briefly. Hohenhime was known to take in strays.

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It was unfortunately no surprise a few weeks later when Hohenhime found Ed packing his things in the living room, careful to leave his automail arm at his side. Once he had gotten over the initial sicknesses that inevitably hit while the body was adjusting to all the new microscopic threats the new world had to throw at it, Ed had been determined to get out on his own and pursue his own research. At first he had listened to Hohenhime's theories on the gate, his research with the Thule society and his hypotheses on summoning the gate without requiring death. After a day or so, they began to sound more and more like fairy tales. He had only escaped before because the body he had been borrowing had been killed. Alchemy didn't exist here, he didn't understand why his father would continue to believe that some part of it could be used to summon the gate, or why he would intentionally lead an entire other group of people from this world into his ideas. Edward had no doubt that his father was a brilliant man, but he accepted that their means to ends were very different. Instead of listening to his father, he took to studying his automail limbs. They still functioned in this world, though he was very careful with them to avoid suspicion and to avoid needing to repair them. He tried to understand how they worked, if only so he would know how to fix them if the need ever arose, but he soon found himself amazed by their mechanics. Automail still worked in this world… perhaps it was the key – some sort of link, a constant between his home and this dirty desperate world. As he slowly got over the colds and flues that had assailed him since he arrived, he had his father bring him books – anything he could find on mechanics and physics, and as soon as he had the energy, he moved himself to what passed for the study in Hohenhime's small apartment. Later, he moved on to the library, devouring everything he could find in those few weeks, working his way up to modern physics. The science, he found, was often close to the principals of alchemy. He found himself particularly drawn to the studies of what was beyond the sky. It was something he had never considered back home, but here, looking up at the night sky, people always seemed to wonder if there was something more out there. There were scientists working to get people beyond the veil of the blue sky above them. It wasn't exactly the most logical way for him to return home, but it seemed to Edward to be far more promising than waiting around for the gate to open again.

He found Oberth's stapled research papers in one of the back rooms of the library. It was recent and, as often was the case in universities, ignored because it wasn't tested, was yet to be proven. Actual physical research appealed more to Ed than the strange theories of Einstein, about time dilation and returning younger than your friends when travelling at the speed of light. It sounded dubious, a theory similar to the way that Hohenhime tried to fit alchemical ideas into the logic of the world he was trapped in. He decided that he would simply have to set off again, get out from the shadow of his father, and find his own way back home. Hohenhime was pleasantly docile about the decision. It seemed that he'd accepted it that it was in an Elric's blood to leave and never look back when the need to go struck them. He stood at the door and waved as he left, suitcase in hand, to pursue his own ideas.


	10. In Theory

The dust had long since settled. In one day, Central city had lost its supreme commander, several high-ranking officers, and two state alchemists. Only a few stationed at the northern border were expecting the coup to happen the way it did, and even they had no idea of exactly how it would play out. They were just going along with the flow, doing what they could to hold things together as they came apart at the seams, and ripping at the parts they knew needed to disappear in the shuffle. It had gotten a little out of control, not that they hadn't expected it to. Mutinies and betrayals, alliances made and severed with the tides of Central's own small civil war. At the end of the day the camps were thick with smoke, giving everything a pallid, washed-out look. The lack of colour gave the scene an expectant feel, as if soon the good-guys would be swept away into a new fanciful world full of colour and a better life. And for most, this was true. When the smoke finally cleared, a new regime would be in place in Central. A parliamentary government ruling with the people in mind as human beings rather than the potential components of the philosopher's stone. Afterwards, a contented slow existence would fall into place over Central. Without war, the state alchemists slowly began to retire from actual military service in order to follow their own research.

In one small town though, there was still a nervous unrest. Not on the part of the people in general, but in one small home on the outskirts of the town. Where there had been two small houses many years ago, there now stood one. It was used to the solitude though – it had been for years - and for now it was happily full. The coup that toppled Central's military government had done little to affect the small town of Rizembool directly. After that day, only Alphonse had returned to his hometown. It was strange to see him all by himself. No longer only a soul in armour, but still incomplete – this time, he lacked his brother, the brother that had always been at his side. A brother he only partly remembered. The people of the house didn't understand what had happened. They puzzled over it for days, but it was his sensei that finally understood.

"Equivalent trade," she'd said. "He got his body back, but Ed must have traded the years they spent together as well. And then disappeared…"

They stood and watched as he played. It was hard to imagine all he'd lost. The people he might never remember knowing, the lessons he'd learned that were now forgotten. The house had acted as a sort of half-way point for those that were lost after the coup. Rose had brought Al and Wrath back after Ed disappeared. He'd said he'd come back after he finished what he had to do, but never did. He just disappeared. Al's brother, his other half - gone. Seeing one without the other was almost unnatural. Wrath had disappeared too, after Winry had taken care of him and given him the automail she'd fitted for Edward. It was symbolic. She believed he wouldn't need it anymore not because he was gone for good, but because he was restored. He'd find his way back whole, wherever he was. She was almost more worried about Al. Memories were much harder to find again than a person. Then, Al too was gone. He followed his sensei back to the south to study, to re-learn what he'd forgotten and find a way to get Ed back. Rose stayed. She had nowhere else to go. She'd been used by Scar as a symbol of what had, in the end, caused her country of Liore even more pain and suffering. Her child took quickly to the country surroundings of Rizembool however, and soon she did, too. She didn't shy away from housework, and having her around made Pinako's existence much easier. Soon even Winry left to study. She aimed to become the best automail mechanic Amestris had ever seen.

Several months later both Al and Winry had run to the end of what their masters could teach them. They returned home within days of each other and set to work on their own. It was suggested that Al have his home rebuilt. The government would no doubt be happy to provide the money, though he had never officially been part of the military. Those who knew and cared were high enough in rank now that they could pull a few strings. Under normal circumstances, few of Mustang's subordinates would have been allowed to remain in the military. However, even though they were officially dissenters and revolutionaries, the people understood what they had worked for and finally accomplished, and chose to turn the other way and allow them to pass under the searches. In the future records it would be allowed to show that they had been promoted for their spirit and valour in the face of the most unlikely circumstances. They had changed the world, as far as Central was concerned, though few people knew exactly which among the military officers they were.

Things in Central were much easier to fix than Al, though. Through his training with Izumi he had gained back some of his memories. Her scare tactics were notorious, and curse the doctor that had told her that a good scare would get him thinking again. She also understood that what he wanted most was to understand the gate. Out of the faintest memories he could recall of his final day with his brother, he could remember seeing Ed standing there in front of it. He'd been crying, though his voice and face showed no other emotion. Just as he had, Ed had thrown himself into the gate as a trade in order to bring him back, not even sure the laws would hold, using up all the power within himself, offering as a trade anything he had. It was like a cycle. So much had been proven wrong since he'd been made into the philosopher's stone. Thankfully, he still couldn't remember how that had happened. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to.

Using what he'd learned, he'd assumed that Ed had disappeared through the gate. It must be possible to get him back. So he settled back into his old neighbours' home, now partly his own thanks to their hospitality, and began to research the gate. Occasionally Winry would stop in and try to help. She was useful for the mechanics and physics of things and understood how the energy might flow, but she understood very few of the alchemical concepts needed to actually get to the gate and command it. It seemed that only Dante, and perhaps Hohenhime, had truly begun to understand what the gate was capable of, and what purpose it served. It was obviously a connection between worlds, but why? What was its purpose? How many worlds were connected?

Al threw himself into his research. It often took Rose half an hour to get him to come out of the study to eat. The study was a sort of compromise. There was no room for all his books in the main part of the house, so they'd built it onto the back. It was almost like a new home for the amount of time that he spent in it, but only in use, never in actual words.

Things progressed slowly in Al's research. There was no precedent for research on the gate. As far as he could tell, no one had tried it before Dante and his father, and he'd only heard about their efforts second-hand. There must be something more than those eyes behind the gate, because Ed had returned. He never would have survived if it was only those eyes and black hands, grabbing and tearing at whatever they could, collecting toll for seeing the gate. So there must be at least one world connected to Amestris through the gate, where Ed and his father had disappeared to. How Dante had sent them there, however, was almost impossible to imagine. Al tried every different way he could imagine to summon the gate. Willing it to appear. Attempting alchemy that required large amounts of power, even considering taboo alchemy (though never seriously). None of it worked. It was almost as if the gate wouldn't appear for anyone who actually wanted it.

It wasn't entirely unusual for people from Central to drop by and visit Al, but it was very rare for them to do it alone, which is why about a week after his return Al was startled to see Havoc standing at the back door to his study in civilian clothes, smoking of course, and looking vaguely embarrassed.

"Good morning, Major Havoc," Al said as he welcomed the man inside. Havoc winced at the title. People at the office had been giving him grief over it since he'd been promoted. It wasn't his fault people at the top thought he deserved it. They were probably mocking him, too. On top of all the mocking, Armstrong had taken it upon himself to show him the ropes of being a Major. Thankfully Armstrong had also been promoted, so he wouldn't have to deal with him on a regular basis. The lessons on being a Major had been bad enough, involving more sparkling and shirtlessness than he'd care to witness from anyone ever, especially Armstrong. He now realized how Mustang must have felt chasing after the next promotion. He needed a new rank. Now, if not sooner.

"Hello Alphonse, may I have a word with you?"

Al looked slightly concerned at the formalities. It wasn't like Havoc. He'd even put his cigarette out before coming in. Though, perhaps he had stiffened a bit at the title. It was unfortunately amusing, though it was a little mean to rub it in.

"Sure, sit down Major."

"Thanks." Havoc took a seat across the study from Al. "Sorry to just appear out of nowhere, Al. But I've got to ask you some questions. They found out in Central that we've been pulling some strings to fund you here, and though they're not insisting that you become a State Alchemist like I thought they would, they want a share in the research. We don't know what to tell them. Obviously, we don't want to tell them what you're really doing."

"Oh…" Al looked down at the pattern of the carpet, then over at the books on the walls. There was no denying that the money from Central had made all the difference in the world… at least when it came to comfort. With or without Central's money, he was still stuck as far as the actual research went. No amount of books would get him around that.

"Have you made any progress?" This time Havoc showed genuine curiosity. The situation with Central would take a lot more thought, so it wouldn't hurt to fill in the intervening time with other conversation.

"Honestly, no. I don't feel like I've gotten anywhere. All I know is how people get to the gate the first time by attempting human alchemy. After that there's got to be a loophole, but I can't figure out what it is." Havoc couldn't pretend to understand, but he listened anyway, knowing that Al would be willing to tell anyone he trusted about his research, and maybe putting it into words would help straighten out all the concepts he had in mind. "There must be some way to weaken the bridge to the gate, but I'm not even sure where the gate itself is. My best theory right now is that it's inside of us, because that's where we pull alchemical power from. If it was outside, we'd have to pull power from there and that feels unnatural to me. But no amount of introspection brings it out. Maybe there are different kinds of people where the link to the gate is weaker… surely more powerful alchemists and people who have seen the gate before. I imagine in anyone not familiar with alchemy, the barrier to the gate must be fairly strong. Then I run into the problem that no matter how hard I study or what I try, I can't get any closer to it."

"And you're sure this is the key to getting your brother back?"

"It's the last place I saw him. The only lead I have."

"So, do you think maybe…"

"You're worried about the Brigadier General?"

"It's strange not having him around to lead us. It's not the same, having Hawkeye boss us around. I was just curious…"

"I don't know, Havoc. It's possible. It seems almost probable, considering that he was an alchemist. Then again, he didn't know about the gate at all. There would have had to be some sort of activity there to draw him through, to make its pull stronger…" Al hesitated and stared off at the top shelf of books for almost a minute. Havoc waited politely for him to continue. It seemed that all alchemists would inevitably zone out in the middle of their thoughts. Roy had done it while giving orders, occasionally. It was why most people pegged him as lazy. Al smiled. "Maybe… maybe that's it. It doesn't have to be you that's closer or farther from the gate, as long as something else nearby is active at it. But what kind of person would be that close to the gate all the time?"

Al trailed off again and started writing down notes on the papers scattered on his desk. A few minutes later, Rose knocked lightly on the door.

"Excuse me… lunch is ready if you'd like to join us."

She motioned for the two of them to join them out in the main house, but as soon as she noticed Al scrawling notes down on the paper she turned away.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

Havoc thanked her and watched as she closed the door gently behind her. Obviously she'd grown quite used to Al's intense moments of inspiration. He was getting a bit hungry himself though, so he hoped that Al would come to his senses soon.

Al looked up from his work.

"So, it looks like what we really need is…" he paused and shook his head. "No, I can't even say it. It's too strange."

"What is it?"

"We need… an alchemically charged baby."

"A _what_?"

"I think children would be much closer to the gate than adults. They haven't built up their ideas of what's true and what's not, so it's easier for them to get closest to the truth. This would be especially true for babies."

"You're going to draw an array on a baby… and use that to summon the gate?" Havoc looked like he wasn't sure if he should laugh or be afraid. "Is that humane?"

"I don't think it would do the child any harm, in theory." Havoc was wary of _in theory._ Mustang wouldn't roast him for not doing his errands for him, _in theory_. Hawkeye wouldn't shoot at him for sneaking a smoke inside the office, _in theory_. Al continued. "When I think about it, the idea seems vaguely familiar. I think Dante may have used the same concept to send my brother to the other side of the gate."

"I… see," Havoc lied.

"Umm… maybe I've just been thinking too hard lately." Al smiled apologetically. "Let's go find some lunch."

Al stood up from the desk and walked over to the door and Havoc stood to follow.


	11. Gate Child

The two walked out into the living area together where Pinako, Winry, and Rose were already eating sandwiches and chatting. It was a typical as lunch got in the Rockbell home. Rose bounced her baby on her knee making soft cooing noises at it as it giggled. When she wasn't doing chores, her attention rarely wavered from the child. Havoc glanced over at Al as his gaze fell on the baby. He smirked as he watched Al, and shrugged his shoulders. Instead of the child, his eyes fell on Rose herself. She was shy and pretty, kind of like Catherine Armstrong. Actually, that brought up memories he'd rather not remember… He pushed the thoughts out of his mind and took the seat next to her anyway, but kept an eye on Al across the table. He grabbed a few sandwiches from the pile in the middle of the table and made small talk with the improvised family for a few minutes. When the food ran low Rose got up to make more, leaving the baby in Havoc's care against her better judgement. He bounced it awkwardly on his knee, and it started to cry. Al, looking concerned, came over and, in a desperate attempt to console it, started playing patty-cake with it. The baby giggled a little, but still had a pained look on its face. Havoc, doing his best to hide his confusion, put the baby over his shoulder and patted it on its back. It coughed, hiccupped… and there was nothing Havoc could do to hide his disgust. He pulled the baby off his shoulder and held it at arm's length from himself, over the table. It dribbled. Winry hid her face in her hands to disguise her giggling, but it soon turned to outright laughter.

"Oh, yuck!" Havoc attempted to glare at the baby, but all it did was giggle and smile back at him. He gave Al a pathetic look, begging for some kind of help – anything at all. Al smiled and clapped his hands together, then touched Havoc's shoulder where the baby had spit up. The wetness disappeared in the blue glow. Al then moved to clean the baby itself. He put his hands over the baby's bib, but when the reaction started, a strange blue glow started to show through underneath; a strange light in the shape of an array. Havoc gave Al a questioning look.

"I thought you were kidding…"

The rest of the table stared in silence as Al curiously lifted up the baby's shirt.

"No way…" he trailed off. Rose walked into the room carrying a plate of sandwiches cut into fourths as Al touched the array. A look of horror crossed her face, and the tray fell to the ground in slow motion. The entire world seemed to snap back away from Al and Havoc, or maybe they were pulled away instead. The baby was gone. Back in the living room, Rose screamed as the child fell onto the table, landing on Havoc's plate and upsetting a glass of water. Winry and Pinako were too shocked to react as Rose ran to take the baby off the table. She barely seemed to notice that Al and Havoc had disappeared.

Alphonse and Havoc stood together in a blindingly white room, facing nothing, then facing the looming image of the gate. It stood slightly open, and a white mist seemed to be blowing around inside. This time there were no tiny black hands scrabbling for a grip on anything they could take. Even without them, the gate's presence was still unsettling, even menacing. Havoc stood in front of it, straight and still, staring into the doors. Al took a step towards it, hands outstretched. Havoc placed a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.

"_Niisan…_" Al's words echoed back to him in a language he didn't know.

"Is this…?"

There was a flash of light. Suddenly energy seemed to be flowing into the gate rather than out of it. Behind the doors the two could see scenes play out, and suddenly they were a part of them, impartial observers both existing and not existing. Straight ahead a short blond walked down the street with a slight limp, carrying a suitcase. Al gasped and called out to him, but it made no sound. His father watched from the door as he left, a resigned and knowing smile lingering as the boy walked off down the street. He went back inside. Another flash.

Trees, an entire forest of them. They were floating above, and two men below made their way through the branches of the trees at an unnatural speed. They were searching for something. From a distance they were hard to follow. Their clothes blended in with the colours of the forest as they moved, and there was something about them that made the eyes tend to look elsewhere. They moved like shadows, heading towards a village of light oranges and browns set behind a mountain where the benevolent faces of stone giants stared down. The two ninjas stopped for a moment, and one set fire to something the other was holding in front of him. The taller of the two cuffed him on the head, and they moved on. As they disappeared into the trees, there was another flash.

An entire army marched through the streets of a city, totally uniform, saluting their leader as they passed. They were so completely in step that the sound of their boots hitting the concrete could be heard even over the crowd. Flash. A different city now, or perhaps the same. I didn't matter. This one was in ruins. Fires burned on the horizon. War raged all around. Flash. An entire city disappears in a few seconds under the shadow of a giant burning cloud.

Flash – back to the forest again. It was comparatively calm, but still war waged. A giant mythical monster stood in a cloud of red, poised to destroy the village in front of it. A brave few stood before it making a last stand against it, posturing and threatening despite obviously being at a disadvantage. The best swished its tails and roared.

Flash.

They were in a dark room lit only by candles, standing in the middle of a chalk circle surrounded by pale blond men in black robes. A few of them gasped when they appeared. These people could see them, though they were still not completely out of the gate. It was as if they were staring out into the room from within the gate while being in the room itself as well. A pair of eyes looked down at Al, and recognition showed behind them. He pulled down his hood.

"Alphonse!"

"F… father?" Al stammered, still trying to take the situation in. Havoc glanced around the room. The men around the circle had stopped their chant at the man's exclamation. Al reached out from the gate towards Hohenhime.

"No! Stop!" Hohenhime stepped into the middle of the circle, and the room was gone, replaced by the white nothingness in front of the gate. He now stood facing the two of them. "It's not often we make it all the way to the gate… How were you so close by?"

The best Al could do was shrug. Havoc did his best to cover for his confusion, knowing that the Elrics were easily distracted into discussing their theoretical ideas.

"What's going on?"

"My current hypothesis is that when we get near the gate, we temporarily reverse the flow of energy between the worlds, drawing the people who happen to be close to the gate through." Hohenhime couldn't hide his excitement; this was obviously a big breakthrough for him, in more ways than one. "You must have been remarkably close to the gate to get pulled into it. And you were lucky enough to catch me when I was expecting it. Last time… last time caught me completely off guard. They were looking for something, or someone, and I couldn't help them at all. Oh, Edward would be so glad to hear about this… I had never really been brave enough to hope that the Thule society would get close through their research, let alone actually find you here. But here I am. And here you are! What were you doing?"

Al finally regained his voice. His jump from confusion to acceptance had been remarkably quick. Havoc was still trying to get a grasp on what was going on.

"It's really sort of weird to try to explain… I was just cleaning up after Rose's baby…"

"Rose? With the… Oh no... Not the one Dante..." he sighed. "She would leave loose ends lying around like that. That was how she sent me through the gate; with that poor child. In any person where the link between body and soul is weak, the gate can be summoned more easily. Using that idea, she drew an array onto the baby that could easily react to any kind of alchemy and summon someone to the gate… I see." Hohenhime nodded. "Surely you've also been researching the gate?"

"Yes, to get back to…"

"He's here. Or at least, he was. He went to research rockets." There was a hint of disapproval, or maybe amusement in his voice. "He didn't believe in what the Thule Society was doing."

"So…"

"No, I don't know where he is right now. But don't go through the gate if you find him. You'll have to pull him through yourself. Alchemy as you're used to it doesn't work here. When people in this world discovered ether, they immediately tried to turn its use to making lead into gold and creating the philosopher's stone. They skipped all the steps in between, and were never able to complete the theory. Since they were not using the power here, our home began to draw power out of this world through the gate, probably around 400 years ago, making our alchemy more powerful. I imagine some people here have made it through the gate on their own, but not many and I doubt it was on purpose. As far as I can tell, no one here researches things to an end that isn't greed or power. Our alchemy is pointed more towards material things though, which makes me wonder if there isn't also a third world connected through the gate that focuses its power on nonmaterial things…"

"I think we saw it…" Al nodded. Havoc continued to stare at the two in a sort of shock. This was beyond what he could understand, but he latched onto one small detail that connected in his mind.

"So then, what if people fell through that way, too?"

Hohenhime questioned, finally seeming to notice Havoc. "Wait… you? You've been here before. About a month ago…"

This was one of the few things Havoc could be sure about.

"Umm, no. I haven't."

"Oh, you haven't? Then… right. I wondered… this is important, then. As long as the other one wasn't just your counterpart…" He offered his hand to Havoc. "I am Hohenhime Elric. You'll see me again soon, so don't forget who I am. You… weren't with Al before. Where is Lt. Colonel Mustang, you worked for him, right?"

"He's a Brigadier General now… or, was…"

"I see..." Hohenhime paused a moment, weighing out the possibilities. "He died, then?"

Havoc paused, wondering what Hohenhime could be getting at.

"Yes."

"Ah! Yes! Excellent! That explains everything!" Hohenhime's sudden show of excitement made Havoc want to hit him, but he somehow restrained himself. "Then it's true! There is a third world!"

This time it was Al's turn to look confused.

"A third?"

"Yes! It would be hard to get to, but it must be there… Beautiful! This makes so much more sense now! We've never seen it, because unless there was a lot of power from the gate already being drawn at the same time in one world, energy would never jump across rather than down."

"Across? Down?"

"My theory is that the connection, if there are really three worlds, is that they are connected in a sort of triangle. The two more powerful worlds draw on the power of the world I'm in now, but not often from each other. It's strange… it's like the gate provides us a clue with the homunculus…" Hohenhime began to fade backwards towards the gate. A panicked look crossed his eyes. "Oh no... They're erasing the circle. I told them never to do that! Why would they…"

"Wait, what?" Al shouted after him, but he was gone. The doors of the gate opened again, and there was another flash.

They stood outside under a dark night sky. They could both see and not see the same blond they'd seen earlier as he left his father. They watched as he strapped himself into the cockpit of a large winged machine with its nose pointed towards the sky. He pushed a button, and fire erupted from the back. The pair wondered briefly if it was a new form of alchemical power, but something told them otherwise. The machine pointed straight up, aiming at a glittering star. It pushed up through the sky somewhat unsteadily, but it held its trajectory and slowly accelerated into the sky. The red light streaming away was an amazing sight. A few people stood on the ground, waving upwards as it faded from sight. There was another flash, this one red and from the direction of the rocket. The people on the ground gasped, and a wave of force travelled outwards. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Havoc felt the impact and was thrown backwards through the open doors of the gate, black and menacing this time, full once again with the bright eyes and reaching hands of the children that provided its guard against trespassers. They pulled him backwards into its depths. He called out to Alphonse, but he too had disappeared, straight backwards from where he'd stood before.


	12. Back

(Yet another Author's Note: Just as a small warning, this chapter contains a small amount of German. I will be the first to admit that I _don't_ know German, so please feel free to correct me on it. I know throwing random languages can bother some people, but I'm trying to make it so if you can't get it from contextyou didn't need to know it anyway and it's just there to be semi-mysterious. (Yeah, there's longer stuff in later chapters, but that's in French, which I am much more competant in. And you still don't have to understand it). Oh, and I'm back home for break now, so that either means this will get updated much more often, or much less often... it all depends on my work schedule. I'm also working on re-editing the entire thing, so after it's all been posted (I _still_ don't have a proper ending, ahhh!), I think I'm going to replace all the chapters with their better, edited versions. This really doesn't make a difference now though... I think I'm just rambling. Thanks for reading!)

* * *

Hohenhime landed hard in an alley between buildings. It was always hard to readjust after travelling through the gate. Any visit into the gate inevitably led to him finding himself someplace, and quite usually some-when, he didn't want to be. This was by far one of the worst. It looked to be where he'd started out this morning, but the streets were empty, the air was different. Everyone's attention was someplace else, it seemed. He had a vague feeling of when he might be. It was something he'd been shown as he went through the gate the very first time. No one here was buying anything on the streets anymore. The markets had all moved elsewhere. The city seemed to be preparing for something. It was chilly, but there was no snow in the air or on the ground, and the sun was going down. It grew darker quickly as Hohenhime walked down the street, and people slowly began to gather outside along the roads. They seemed to be expecting something, but it was hard to tell in the dark. Hohenhime figured he had nothing to lose, and approached the first person that passed close by.

"_Traurig; Welches Jahr ist es?_" One natural perk of the gate was the information it was willing to throw at you as you went through, if you were prepared to take it. The immediate assimilation of language was a little hard to take if you thought about it too much. It was weird for another language to suddenly come so naturally. Hohenhime imagined most people would just disregard the change and assume they were still speaking their native language. The mind always found ways to cope. He'd only noticed the change in language after they'd contacted the gate the first time. Someone had interrupted the people that had come through to them, yelling at them in a strange language he knew that neither of them knew. They'd responded anyway.

The man he'd approached turned to face Hohenhime and gave him a strange look. He was, for a second, conscious that he still spoke with an accent. Though he knew it inside and out, the language was still awkward for his tongue. Some things were impossible to avoid. He hoped that his English accent wouldn't get him into too much trouble here. He knew there were times in history when it would, and he hoped this wasn't one of them, even though at the back of his mind he knew it was. The man gave him a suspicious look, but Hohenhime discounted it as more a result of the strangeness of his question than his own suspicious presence.

"_Neunzehn dreißig acht_."

Hohenhime nodded. Here again. He'd have to be especially careful with his accent, then. Or if he was lucky, he could find his former associates from the Thule Society. He knew that, by this point, they would have risen to rather powerful positions, and could make an exception for him, if need be.

"_Danke_," he smiled at the man and continued in the direction he hoped the university was still in. He sighed. This was crazy. Something big was about to happen if the time between the worlds was fluctuating this much.

* * *

Alphonse fell backwards into a familiar chair. It toppled over as he stood up again, frantically looking around the room. 

"Winry! Where's Havoc? How long have I been gone?"

Winry blinked. It seemed like she hadn't moved at all from where she'd been before. Rose had left the room with the baby – or at least Al hoped that that was the case – and a few sandwiches still sat on the floor. Pinako glanced over at Winry, then back at Al again. The two of them had gotten used to unusual alchemical accidents in their home, but no one had ever disappeared before.

"Havoc didn't come back, did he?" Al picked the chair up off the floor and sat down in it. "The baby is okay, isn't it?"

"Yes, the baby's fine," Pinako said in an attempt to reassure Al on at least one of his questions.

"That gate… was what you were looking for, wasn't it?" Winry asked, surprising Al with her understanding.

"You saw it too?"

"Only for a second before you and Havoc disappeared into it."

"Oh…" Al looked down at the tablecloth, idly playing with it to keep his hands busy. "We're going to have to do something to explain Havoc's disappearance." He sighed. "I hope father was right about there being a third world. I don't want to think about him being trapped in that gate…"

"Father… Hohenhime? You saw Hohenhime?" Pinako stared over the table at him incredulously.

"Yes…" Al continued playing with the tablecloth, halfway to losing himself in his thoughts yet again and before Pinako could ask anything else, Winry interrupted.

"I suppose we'll have to call Central. Hawkeye would know what to do, right?" She stood and walked towards the phone, and Al took the cue to follow.

----

After the coup, Hawkeye had been promoted to Lt. Colonel and was on her way farther up the ranks if rumours in Central were to be believed. Her shooting and tactical expertise had come to the forefront after the Colonel's disappearance. She, like many of the other military officers that had formerly been under his command, preferred to believe that he had disappeared rather than died. He was too stubborn to just stop living after finally reaching his goal. The casket they'd buried had been empty, so it was an easy denial to keep up. The body hadn't been found – oddly only his clothes had remained, sitting in a pool of blood. It had stumped the investigators for quite some time, until they simply wrote it off as a strange alchemical accident.

Rumours in Central also said that, though she was quickly on the rise through the ranks, Hawkeye would never take a rank higher than Colonel out of respect for Roy Mustang. Rumours were rumours, though. There were also some that said that she had nearly killed herself after his death, but that was a matter for her own heart, and not for the masses to judge. Since his disappearance, she had inherited almost all of Mustang's subordinates. It was still too early on for them to begin complaining about her iron-handed insistence on conformity to policy, though it was sure to start soon. She insisted that everything be perfect. There were some things in her nature that would not change, no matter what the rank. Sitting behind the desk that was formerly covered in piles of unsigned papers, she ran the office like a caring tyrant (if it was ever possible for there to be such a person). It was unusual for no one to be napping at that particular desk in Central, but now it was likely that laziness would never been seen again in its occupant.

Hawkeye sighed and looked across the office, empty for now while most people were on their lunch breaks. Often at times like this her mind would wander back to the Colonel and what he was doing, despite what the logical part of her brain told her. He'd gotten what he desired in Central – the reform of the military and the government, though he'd never be able to become Fuhrer even if he had been there now. It was almost better for him that he'd escaped. There was nothing here for him anymore. The pursuit of power after the coup was trivial. It was for rich or bored men with nothing else to challenge them. She hoped he'd found a new just cause to fight for wherever he was. She was considering taking a small break herself and going to the shooting range when the phone rang. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she leaned over and picked up the phone.

"Lt. Colonel, a call for you from a civilian line. One Alphonse Elric."

"Go ahead and put him through."

There was a brief rustle and some static on the line as the girl at the switchboard connected the call. It wasn't often that anyone called Hawkeye at work for anything other than business, and she sensed that Al wasn't making a social call.

"Hello Alphonse, what can I do for you?"

The boy on the other end of the line coughed shyly before he started. Hawkeye had an odd premonition of imminent doom, but brushed it aside. Alphonse was a nice boy; he couldn't have done anything that horrible. And anyway, Havoc was supposed to be there this afternoon sorting out the issues about his research funds. The call was probably about that. Maybe they had found a solution.

"Umm… I'm afraid I've got a bit of a problem. Does it still make a difference if the line is secure or not? You might not…"

"Oh, is it about that, Al? You know your brother and I never… well, I'd better call you back from another line. Just a moment, I'll call you back later." Hawkeye couldn't help smiling at herself. It was the sort of trick Mustang always used to pull with insecure calls. She straightened the things on her desk then went outside to use the phone booth a few blocks down. She didn't leave a note, assuming that no one would be back from lunch early enough to notice she'd been gone.

Inside the phone booth, she picked up the receiver and asked the operator for the number of the Rockbell's house in Rizembool. They connected her, and Al picked up again after barely one ring.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Lt. Colonel Hawkeye. I don't know how it happened!"

There was a sinking feeling in the pit of Hawkeye's stomach. She was going to have to cover something up. What had he done? Turned Havoc into a chimera? She shivered. The boy was practically panicking on the other end.

"What happened, Al? Al, breathe." The boy on the other end paused a moment, apparently obeying her suggestion, then continued quickly, talking so fast that it was barely possible for Hawkeye to understand him.

"It was an accident. I was cleaning up after the baby, and it turns out it belonged to Dante and it summoned the gate and Havoc and I… we got pulled in. It snapped us over to some sort of alternate world where Ed ended up after he disappeared, but there was this explosion and I was sent back here and Havoc disappeared and I'm afraid of who might have been in the explosion and…" Hawkeye cut him off before he could stray further from what had happened to her subordinate.

"You lost Havoc in a… gate?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but you're going to have to believe me. It's where alchemical power comes from in this world… I can't explain it all now, but please trust me. I don't know what we're going to tell people."

Hawkeye took a breath and went over all the possibilities she could think of. She'd have to come up with a good reason for Havoc to take an extended leave of absence from work in Central. At least he wasn't a chimera…

"It's okay Al, I'll think of something. Is there anything you can do to get him back?"

"I'm going to work on it." He took a breath, seeming to calm down a little. "The accident actually showed me a lot of what I wanted to know about the gate. I think if I keep researching it I can find a way through to get him back. And my brother too, if he's still alright. Maybe even…" Hawkeye cut him off at the thought.

"How long do you think it will take you?"

"Months? A year? I'm not sure. It depends on how much progress I can make in the research. This is still stuff that no one has done before."

A sudden thought struck Hawkeye. She nodded to herself.

"I've got an idea Alphonse. It might not be the best for you, but it might actually help out in the long run. I'm going to say that Havoc has taken a sudden interest in your work himself and stayed to help you research in whatever way he can. Of course, in that case the military will also insist on sending you an actual alchemist to help you research as well."

Al considered this; an extra capable hand at research would be useful, though there weren't many alchemists in Central anymore. It didn't leave many promising options as to who his new research partner would be, but having anyone around would probably be useful. He thanked Hawkeye profusely and hung up. He wondered how she would ever justify any interest Havoc might take in alchemy, but decided that it was best left up to her to worry about. Al had plenty of other things weighing on his mind. Al returned the phone to its spot on the table and smiled at Winry, letting her know that he'd be fine now, then went back into his study.

----

Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye placed the phone back in its cradle and turned to leave the phone booth. Instinctively she checked for anyone who may have been listening in. Her sudden rise through the ranks had embittered a lot of the same people Roy had angered in his rise to the top, and she wouldn't put them past pulling the same tricks on her. If they found out she'd lost Havoc in some kind of accident caused by a boy that wasn't even supposed to be funded by the State… she pushed the thought out of her mind. Worrying about that sort of thing would do her no good. Satisfied that no one was around, she walked back to her office. A clock on the wall of a nearby store told her that it was later than she'd thought it was. The men would be back in the office by now. She sighed, and prepared herself for whatever prank they'd decided to pull. It had been so much simpler when she could just ignore their planning and act annoyed when they harassed the Colonel, but now that she was the brunt of their jokes it wasn't as easy to turn the other cheek. She pushed the door to the office open and looked around. Nothing looked seriously out of place. None of the desks or chairs were upside down. Nothing was duct taped to the ceiling, nothing was on fire. Good. But Breda sat at Hawkeye's desk, both feet up on the table.

"You know," he said as she walked in, directing the comment more at her than Farman and Fury, who sat at the long table down the centre of the room, "I think Lt. Colonel Hawkeye's gotten a little big-headed since the BFP. She thinks she can take longer for lunch than the rest of us."

"BFP?"

Breda tried to look innocent, and it was Fury who answered.

"Big.. umm.. friendly promotion."

"Fantastic," offered Farman. Hawkeye ignored the glossed-over adjective and walked over to her desk.

"You're just jealous that Havoc and I got promoted farther than you. What did you fill the drawers with this time?"

Breda swung his feet down from the desk. "You know that's Major Havoc's job. Hey, where is Major Havoc, anyway?"

"Major Havoc's mom keeps calling here asking where he is," Farman added.

"He's taking an extended leave in Rizembool."

"Well, someone else can tell his mom that, then" Breda shrugged.

"Why?"

"She doesn't speak English! I don't even think what she speaks _is_ a language." Breda continued in an atrocious high-pitched imitation of Havoc's mother's accent. "Ou est mon Jean? Ou? Ou?! 'E 'azn't called me!"

Hawkeye winced. She'd forgotten that she'd have to invent a story to tell Havoc's family as well. Mustang had really had it easier when it came to cover-ups. All he'd ever had to do was make up a story about how Ed had lost his arm. That was peanuts compared to explaining the disappearance of an entire officer.

"By the way, when is the new guy coming in?" Farman asked.

Hawkeye shrugged. "I don't know, today or tomorrow."

"I hear he thinks he's a ninja," Breda remarked sarcastically. "Then again, Major Havoc thought he was a ninja too."

"Breda, enough. Sergeant Gekkou does _not_ think he's a ninja. Please try to be nice?"

"Hey," Breda sighed, giving up on playing against Hawkeye. She was no fun to argue with. "It's just a game we play. Hey Farman! Denny Broche: pirate or ninja?"

"Hmm, pirate."

"See?"

"Will you just give it a rest?"

"Wait, why is Havoc on extended leave?" Fury asked, steering the conversation back to what had bothered him about Hawkeye's excuse. "There's nothing for him to do in Rizembool."

Hawkeye sighed again. "Because he got a little more… involved with Al's research than he meant to."

"Did Al turn him into a chimera or something?"

"Well, no. He just kind of… lost him."

"Lost him?"

Farman stared wide-eyed at Hawkeye. Breda and Fury stared at Farman, then Breda turned to Fury.

"Well, looks like I win the bet. Havoc owes me twenty bucks. His eyes _don't_ shoot lasers when he opens them."

Hawkeye hid her face in her hands as Farman got up and chased Breda out of her chair. He was usually laid-back, but for some reason the speculation on his eyes irked him. She sat down in the now vacated spot at her desk and started working out how she could get things sorted out in Rizembool. The only available alchemist in Central right now was Armstrong, and she wasn't sure how much help he would actually be to Alphonse. There was no question of him being willing though, and she was sure Al would find some sort of use for him. What mattered was the way it looked, anyway. She picked up the phone on her desk and called her secretary – it was still weird to have someone that would tell _her_ to do her paperwork if she ever put it off – and asked her to call Armstrong and have him come to the office. He appeared, sparkles first, about ten minutes later. Hawkeye managed to get the other three to sit at the table as she paced the room and explained the plan. They finally had something a new mission in Central.


	13. A Third

In the village of the hidden leaf it was a rare rainy day. The sun had risen an hour ago, but the clouds and mist still hid most of its light. The best it could do was warm the sky to a dull grey colour. A lone ninja stood in front of the black monument in the training ground outside the village. It was a part of his morning ritual. Right after getting up and getting dressed and right before having breakfast he'd spend time in front of the memorial. It was the least he could do for his fallen comrade. Sometimes he'd just stand there, other times he'd talk to his friend as if he were really there. This was a quiet morning. The rain did all the talking, and he didn't seem to mind getting soaked. He sighed and smiled a smile that showed only in the glow of his eyes then turned to leave, satisfied that he had paid his respects for the day. Behind him, the sky ripped open and the rain stopped over the monument. There was the brief sound of children giggling, then several dozen pairs of tiny black hands dropped a blond man onto the monument.

Kakashi turned back around and faced the man that now lay slumped over the black stone. He was slowly getting soaked. The fact that he had been dry at any point before this considering the weather was immediately suspicious. Kakashi walked over and stared down at Havoc. He continued to lie on the monument, and only the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest gave a clue that he was still living.

"Yo," Kakashi prodded Havoc in the side. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

Havoc turned and rolled off the monument like he was rolling out of bed. He hit the ground with an awkward thud and pushed himself to his feet.

"Wha… wait? What?" Havoc looked vaguely sleepy, and shook his head like he was trying to sort out several dozen things at once. He started again. "Why, why are you…?" He stopped again, and nodded his head like he finally understood something. Then, clearing his throat, he started a third time a bit more confidently. "Where am I?"

"Don't tell me you're another one." Kakashi tilted his head and looked Havoc up and down. The clothes weren't exactly the same, but they were similar enough to those the last strange arrival to the village had worn, and the accent matched as well. It was the final clue he needed. Certainly these people weren't from any hidden village or city in this world. They were dropping in from some other place entirely, and he'd have to confront them about it. He nodded at Havoc's confused and slightly offended expression. "Never mind. Follow me."

-------

Hughes and Roy stood in front of Tsunade's desk. It was time for them to receive a third member to their squad. Because of their unusual closeness, Tsunade had decided that it was best for them to work together. Neither of them, and Roy in particular, worked as well without the other. The way they complimented each other was hard to miss. A third, however, was missing. She'd given it a lot of thought since Roy's examination to become a special Jounin. Both of them were skilled fighters, Hughes in weapons and hand-to-hand combat, and Roy in ninjutsu. Neither of them was especially good in healing or genjutsu, though. If they were to be truly useful, they needed a third to their group. Considering the amount of damage they were capable of by themselves, a healing expert would probably be best. She had explained this to them earlier, and they'd been vaguely accepting of the idea at the time, though she was a bit apprehensive. The village was short on people as it was, and very few of the children were moving up through the ranks as quickly as they should have. Shizune would have been an excellent choice, but unfortunately Tsunade needed her for other things. That left only one other choice and Tsunade had spent weeks pondering over the idea. She was a bit too young and far too inexperienced, but working with the two men might do her some good. Seeing them standing in front of her now though, she was sure that she'd end up as the object of some very intense hatred very soon. It was a shame, but sometimes the Hokage had to make sacrifices.

"Tsunada-sama, do you have our third for us? We're eager to start some actual missions." Hughes started; knowing that all Roy was going to do was sulk. Since he'd passed the exam to become a special Jounin, he'd been asking constantly for time off of his training to research things. The distance from Central seemed to have let him slip out of his State Alchemist mindset and back into the habits he'd had as a pure researcher earlier on. He'd missed studying simply for the sake of learning, and now that he'd had a taste of it the training was becoming tedious. He didn't care so much about mastering ninjutsu as he did about finding a way for them to return home.

"Yes. And I don't want to hear a word from either of you complaining about it. I decided that it's best that I give you two a healing specialist."

Hughes bit his tongue, but both he and Roy were thinking only two words: "Oh no." Not only had they wanted someone skilled in genjutsu, they both knew that the village was short on healers. There weren't many people they could end up with, and none of them seemed appealing, especially knowing that Tsunade wouldn't give up the only healer worth anything to them. The realization of who it would be dawned on them both at the same time. Until this point Roy had been pretending to not pay attention, but he couldn't stop the involuntary look of dread that crossed his face.

"Not a word. You're going to be working with Sakura. She's waiting for you outside."

"Tsunade-sensei," Roy spoke up, giving up his apathetic guise for now in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation. "Isn't this unfair? She's only thirteen! I don't see how pairing her with us is going to do anyone any good. Isn't there _anyone_ else in this village, healer or not, that you could put with us?"

Tsunade glared. "Yes, as a matter of fact there is. But this will be good for all of you. You're just going to have to trust my judgement. I recommend you do some training runs with her today, because I'm starting you on missions tomorrow.

The two turned and left without another word. There was nothing else they could say, they knew. She was ruthless. This was probably punishment for begging her to let Roy train, then having him constantly ask to be allowed to train himself. "You're lazy," she'd say. The assumption always annoyed Roy at least a little when people made it. "You wouldn't do any training if I let you try to train on your own." And now they'd have a little girl tagging along. Didn't she realize that Hughes especially would spend more time worrying about her than he would on the missions? She'd be a dangerous liability. Roy shook his head as Hughes pushed the door open. Sakura stood in front of them. She was no taller than Ed, and she looked twice as innocent. Her arms were crossed across her chest and she appeared to be trying to stare them down.

Sakura was doing her best to size the two of them up. They were somewhat infamous in the village, but this was the first time she'd actually seen them in person. Everyone knew _of_ them, but few actually knew them. They were Konoha's smallest clique, and it was no wonder. Both of them had just appeared in the village, and somehow found an in with the Hokage and ended up as ninjas. Everyone knew that Hughes was one of the best intelligence-Anbu the village had, though he'd only been working as one for a few months. Now that Mustang had been promoted to Jounin though, the two of them had been paired together. When she'd watched his examination she'd been rather impressed. Though Sakura had matured over the past few months of training as a specialist, she still had a weak spot for the dark brooding boys. But here in person, Mustang was a little too imposing. The way he looked at her made her think that he could decide to burn her to a crisp if she did anything he didn't like. He was also a bit shorter than he'd appeared from a distance… definitely not her type, since she planned to be at least as tall as he was, and he wouldn't be getting any taller. She chided herself for even thinking about it; her mission no matter what was still to get Sauske back. If working with these two would get her closer to being able to protect him when the time came, she'd deal with it. She'd have to find a way to get revenge on Mustang too, because she knew that her mother had been sending him letters secretly ever since the exams. Disgusting… these two were probably as old as her parents. And now Hughes appeared to be leering at her. His smirk was starting to become unnerving.

"What do you want?" She attempted to glare at Hughes, but he just kept on smiling and looking at her with some emotion that was almost longing. Creepy. Almost creepier than thinking of her mom with Mustang. She shivered, and Hughes just kept on smiling at her.

"ARGH! Will you stop that?"

"Sorry," Hughes' smile changed to one that almost looked apologetic. "Your eyes remind me of my daughter's. Oh, I wish I had some pictures to show you. She's absolutely adorable, you'd love her"

Roy rolled his eyes and grabbed Hughes' shoulder, pushing him towards the exit.

"Let's go. You're scaring her."

It was settled. The two of them were insane. No wonder no one else hung around them… well, except Genma occasionally, though Sakura suspected it was out of pity for Hughes. He wasn't even married, where did he think he had a daughter? Sakura hoped he didn't have some poor illegitimate child somewhere in the village. Probably some poor woman who was trying to get closer to Mustang… Wait? Had Hughes even been here for 9 months? So this poor woman must be in a different village. They continued walking down the street, Hughes and Roy a good ten feet ahead of her. She sped up to hear what they were talking about, but it was no use. They were speaking in some other language that only they knew - probably some sort of code. It was, well, just like they usually were she decided: creepy. They walked on like she wasn't even there.

Sakura turned as her former teacher walked by escorting a tall blond man she'd never seen before into the centre of the village. Hughes and Roy stopped as well, turning to watch the scene. Kakashi was doing his best to explain the village to the newcomer, though he kept insisting that he didn't know of any place where the man could buy a pack of cigarettes.

"You don't understand! I'm down to one pack! That isn't going to last me until Al gets me back! That's only half a day's worth, at best!"

Kakashi looked stunned and stopped in the middle of the street to face the man that was following him.

"Two packs a day? You're going to die, you know? Geez, even Asuma only goes through a pack a day."

"So there _are _cigarettes here?"

Kakashi sighed and nodded. At first the questions had all been about gates, and when the man had realized those were getting him nowhere he'd immediately gone on to ask about tobacco. He needed to find Hughes and Roy. Forget this man's questions; he had about fifty of his own.

Hughes and Roy, incidentally, continued standing on the corner of the street staring back at the scene, too much in shock to do anything else. Of all the weird things, now someone who looked, acted, and probably smelled just like Havoc had wandered into the village. Roy looked over at Hughes thinking maybe he somehow understood the situation any better. Hughes simply shrugged, and walked over to where the two were still standing, Kakashi looking slightly exasperated and Havoc looking unusually comfortable for someone who had in all likelihood just been dropped from the sky. Roy wandered up next to him and, doing his best to ignore the absurdity of the situation, tapped him on the shoulder.

"Havoc. Leave now, there are no straight people here. At all." So much for lack of absurdity. Havoc turned around to face Roy and Hughes, and looked vaguely relieved.

"Oh, good to see you, Brigadiers." Havoc was winning the "act cool and pretend you know everything" game by a landslide. His surprise at seeing Hughes here as well only betrayed him for a second. A sly grin crossed Hughes' face at the sign of weakness and jumped into the fray, not willing to let Havoc slip by with that cool smile of his. They'd started this war years ago in the office. He would see who broke first under the insanity, and decided to take the game up a level.

"Now Roy," he practically purred, "you know that's a lie. I've seen all those letters you've been getting since the exams. But the real draw of Konoha is the men, after all." He grabbed Roy around the shoulders and kissed him. Havoc stifled a snicker and bit his tongue to avoid laughing. Hughes knew just a bit more would push Havoc into that entertaining shocked state he had. Roy turned a very interesting shade of bright red.

"Hughes," Roy said through gritted teeth, arms straight down at his sides, "you are well over the unnecessary molestation quota for the month. You will pay for that." He paused for a second. Kakashi stared. It was the only thing he could do. Sakura slowly backed away until she was far enough from the scene to turn and run without being noticed. Creepy! Roy took a breath and continued, choosing to ignore Hughes' comment about the letters. He certainly hadn't seen any. "Havoc, how did you get here?"

"Ah," Kakashi interrupted. "I was just about to ask the two of you the same question. Maybe you'd like to talk about this elsewhere?"

"You know how we got here, Kakashi. Everyone does."

"Oh no." Kakashi shook his head at the two of them. "I saw him get thrown out of some sort of opening in the sky this morning. I want you to tell me why."

"Oh…" Hughes trailed off. It could always be worse, he supposed. At least Kakashi wasn't a bad person to have know the truth. There probably wasn't anyone he would tell, after all, and maybe he'd be able to help them out somehow. "I guess we should take this back to my apartment then."


	14. Explain the Truth

A few minutes later, the four of them filed into Hughes' apartment. The presence of so many people made the space seem unusually cramped, but Hughes did his best to play the part of the host, offering everyone drinks and snacks. Though Kakashi was technically his superior, he liked to think that over the course of the few missions they'd done together they had a sort of understanding. Kakashi wouldn't treat this like the Spanish Inquisition, and Hughes could deal with one person in the village knowing their secret, especially if Havoc had some new information. And he did indeed seem to – he was far too comfortable here to have been killed before arriving. They must have found another way through. How had he gotten through the gate without being completely disoriented by it? This must've been why he was one of the few officers that were still sent out on actual combat missions when they weren't technically at war, his amount of composure was unimaginable. Maybe it was an effect of all the tobacco.

Kakashi sat down in a chair facing the couch where Havoc and Roy sat. Hughes pulled a chair away from the dining room table and sat down backwards in it, doing his best to face everyone at once. Surprisingly, Roy didn't look at all angry about this new situation. Perhaps he was more concerned about what had brought Havoc here, and wasn't even bothering to think about what Kakashi's interference could mean. Havoc could be an important link back, and he'd be the perfect excuse for Mustang to start researching the gate more in depth. It was hard enough for Hughes to keep himself from interviewing Havoc on the spot, but he kept himself in line. He'd always been good at keeping himself in line in front of his superiors. Roy looked straight over at Kakashi, who now sat resting his head in his hand looking vaguely bored. Both Roy and Hughes knew the bored look though… he knew he was on to something here.

"So," Hughes began amicably, hoping to get the upper hand in the conversation by starting out politely and forward. "What do you want to know about us?"

"Well, I'd really like to know where you've come from. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't lie this time. I know you're not from any of the other villages, or even the cities, because as far as I know there is no way to drop someone from the sky like that without any trace of chakra."

About a minute passed while Roy, Hughes, and Havoc tried to sort out what their response should be without speaking a word. There were limits to reading body language, though. Havoc shifted uncomfortably in his seat, deciding to leave the decision to Roy and Hughes, since they had been here longer and had probably given the issue some thought. Though he'd been somewhat prepared to end up somewhere strange after Hohenhime's odd unspecific allusions, he hadn't really been prepared for ninjas. What a strange place the world could be. Roy raised an eyebrow at Hughes and shrugged – what harm could the truth do now? He probably wouldn't believe all of it anyway, and it'll get us out of this mess, right? Hughes shrugged back, and started his attempt at an answer.

"Officially, we are all members of the Amestris military…" He got no farther before Kakashi interrupted with a somewhat shocked expression.

"An invasion?"

"You could say that…" Havoc grinned menacingly, but Roy's elbow in his side stopped him quickly. Now was not the time, and this was not the man to mess with. If they weren't careful, he could probably turn half the village against them over night, especially if they thought that the three of them were here to somehow invade.

"No. We're here as more of an… odd loophole. I speak only for myself and Roy, because I still have no idea how Havoc got here, but we both, for lack of a better phrase, fell through into this world after we were killed in ours. I guess that makes where we're from a sort of alternate universe or parallel reality. I think Roy could probably explain it better than I can. In our world, he was…. Hmmm." Hughes paused, trying to think of a good analogy. "He was kind of like a ninja scientist."

Roy rolled his eyes, and tried to salvage Hughes' explanation.

"I was a State Alchemist, which means I worked for the military while researching and practicing alchemy." Kakashi gave him an inquisitive look and urged him to go on. "Alchemy is… it's a lot like chakra, only it's used to manipulate more material things. They both use the same kind of energy, as far as I can tell. It really isn't the easiest thing to explain. Suffice it to say that it works."

"I knew there must be something like this." Kakashi grinned, latching onto the clue he'd been trying to verify. "So this alchemy of yours – it must be what you used to perform your last fire jutsu in the exams then?"

"What?"

"I know it wasn't a normal jutsu, because I couldn't copy it. It must've been alchemy."

"Oh," Roy smiled as Hughes sighed and shook his head. Hughes had warned him not to show off his alchemy at the exams because _someone_ would become suspicious about it. But he'd gone ahead and made the gloves and everything. He prided himself on it. It was a good thing he didn't know about all the women that were now stalking him. Not only would it destroy his impression that everyone in the village was homosexual, it would make his head even bigger than it already was. "Yes, that was alchemy."

This time Kakashi smiled. Naturally any new jutsu that he couldn't copy at first he was eager to learn another way. "Could you tell me how it works?"

"I'd prefer for my fire alchemy to remain my own. Specializations like it in alchemy take years of study. Even general alchemy would take you years to learn, just like ninjutsu."

Kakashi shifted in his seat, giving Roy an incredulous look.

"And how long have you been here? How long did it take you to learn ninjutsu?"

Roy began an answer, then paused. He'd always assumed that their ability to pick up so quickly on ninjutsu had been because of the information the gate flooded into their minds. Hughes' sudden grasp of alchemy certainly backed that up. However, it would be interesting to see exactly how much the two arts overlapped, and teaching Kakashi would allow him to have a pure test subject… Then again, with Havoc around now, he planned on getting back. Leaving the science of alchemy behind here could probably cause all kinds of problems. He tried to weigh the options, but Kakashi began to look impatient at his hesitation.

"Okay. I've been here only a few months now, probably only three. But our situation is different, because of an effect our method of travel has on us."

"So… whatever it was that dropped you here gave you some kind of super understanding powers?" Kakashi asked sceptically.

"Well… yes. That's pretty much it."

There was a knock on the door, and suddenly Genma peeked his head into the room. He paused for a moment, looking at everyone, then finally smirking at Hughes.

"Is this a bad time?"

"Oh no, come on in. Kakashi, is there anything else you want to know?"

"I think that's all for now." Kakashi stood to leave. "Thank you very much for being honest." Neither Hughes, Roy, nor Havoc could tell if there wasn't a twinge of sarcasm in his voice. Everyone in the room watched in silence until he left, then breathed what would have been a sigh of relief if Genma hadn't been staring at Havoc so intently. Havoc gave him an incredulous look and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. For a moment the two seemed to mirror each other, each entertaining his own trademark oral fixation. Hughes gave the two of them a sideways look and turned to Genma to break the silence.

"What's up?"

"Oh…" Genma finally turned to face Hughes again. "I was just checking the mail. There's even more of those letters for Mustang here." He threw a rubber-banded pile onto the kitchen table.

"What letters?"

"Oh, I forgot I never let you see them. No worries though, I answered them for you," Hughes smirked.

"You what?"

Hughes continued in a singsong voice, imitating a flirty girl.

"Ooooh Mustang-sama! I want you to light _my_ fire!"

"Hughes. If you don't stop whatever you're up to you're going to spend the next few months in the hospital. We both know neither of us wants that, because then we'll be stuck with _another_ random partner." Roy rubbed his fingertips together threateningly. This time, the effect was not lost. He was, Havoc now noticed, the only one of them wearing gloves that covered his fingers. That meant he'd recreated the gloves here… so much for harassing him and not getting burned. Havoc resigned himself to more subdued conversation from now on, and vaguely wondered how Hughes had gotten away with so much earlier.

Genma tapped the letters then walked towards the door, giving one last glance and wink in Havoc's direction. Havoc stared at the door after he walked out.

"What was with that?"

Hughes just shrugged. Genma was the least of his worries. Now, with no one else around, Roy and Hughes turned to Havoc. There was a lot of work to be done if he was going to save their sanity from Sakura.

"Let's start with the simple stuff," Hughes began, leaning over a chair and looking like he wanted to start a sort of good-cop bad-cop style interview. "How did you get here?"

"That's simple?" Havoc scoffed. "I was visiting Alphonse…"

"He's OK?" Both Hughes and Roy gave a sigh of relief, then… "Wait, just Al?"

"Should I start with the not-so-simple stuff?" Roy and Hughes nodded. "I figure Mustang already told you about what happened since you disappeared," Havoc said to Hughes, and he nodded. "So then, I'll start from where Roy must have left off. I really don't know anything about what happened at the Fuhrer's mansion, but things were pretty insane in the north for a while. Oddly though, once things calmed down the people in Central elected a parliament amazingly quickly. I don't know how much of that was your influence, Mustang, but you certainly made a big difference. It's a shame nobody knows it was actually you… there are rumours even that you fled the country with the Fuhrer. Heh, you should have seen Hawkeye squash those." There was a rare note of admiration in Havoc's voice. Then again, it was also very rare that your superior officer overthrew your country's government. At the mention of the new government, Roy gave an almost audible sigh of relief – it had been worth something. He regretted that he wasn't there to enjoy it.

"I'm hoping all of you got promoted, then…" Mustang said. Havoc nodded, and he smiled. "So they promoted the revolutionaries. How many ranks, Havoc?"

Without thinking, Havoc replied proudly: "Two."

A moment passed as the two of them processed this, then Hughes started snickering.

"Not you guys, too."

"Oh, no one here cares about our ranks at home," Hughes said, stifling a sort of giggle.

"We're going to remember this though, if you don't behave yourself." Havoc's colour was enough to show Roy that his threat wouldn't go ignored. The jokes wouldn't be as much fun here with only Hughes to hear them though, which brought him back to his original questions. "So, back to the simple stuff: How did you get here?"

"Well, I was going to explain _why_ Al was by himself, but I guess that's part of the reason I'm here. Ed disappeared around the same time that you did; he sacrificed himself to restore Al to his original body, but unfortunately the body he brought back is only eleven, and he can't remember anything of the last few years. Well, he's remembered some of it now… but anyway, he's been doing research on this Gate that links our worlds together trying to get Ed back. I was visiting, and through a really weird accident involving a baby, ended up here." Roy was ready to tell him to get real, but let the comment lie as Havoc continued. "It was apparently some crazy idea that someone named Dante came up with, and used to send Hohenhime to the other side of the gate. We saw him briefly while we were travelling through, then there was an explosion and I was thrown here."

"Did he tell you anything about the gate?" Roy's natural curiosity was piqued. Maybe this would be the lead he needed to finally get started on some serious research here. The lack of books in the apartment had been bad enough, but with nothing at all to study outside of ninjutsu Roy had slowly been going insane.

"Well, Hohenhime did say that he'd seen me before, with you. So, well, I know that you figured it out. And he says that the three worlds are linked like a triangle, and I think the world he's in swings back and forth. That's about all I remember. He made a big deal about the baby, though."

"Hmm…" Roy leaned over the coffee table and picked up the notebook again. Hughes rarely used it, and he'd adopted it for jotting down random thoughts and theories. Training had kept him busy though, so he'd only managed to fill up a quarter of the pages. He turned to a fresh page and started writing, sketching out arrays and drawing diagrams. Havoc tried to read over his shoulder, but despite the fact no one in Konoha would understand his research anyway, it was still written entirely in code. Havoc gave up and turned to Hughes, who was throwing their cups into the sink.

"What now?"

"Well, I'm not really sure. We're going to have to find something for you to do here. You'll definitely have to be trained if you're going to stay in the village with us, and hopefully we'll be allowed to keep you on our team. I imagine we scared our third away this afternoon. Actually, I almost hope we scared her away… she was far too young." Havoc nodded. "Anyway, I suppose I could at least find you some normal clothes and show you around the village. I don't think Roy will be doing anything else for at least a few more hours yet. And I can explain this place to you while we walk. Oh, first clothes though."

Hughes led Havoc into the bedroom, where the contents of his dresser were again emptied onto the bed. It was a rather silly cause. Everything was black anyway, so they could have easily just chosen something at random. But the ritual continued. Havoc adopted a tight-fitting black t-shirt and, in a rather symbolic affront to Roy's sense of style, the fishnet undershirt. He pulled on a pair of black gloves and a pair of black pants, then looked down at his tennis shoes. They looked, for lack of any better description, out of place and absolutely ridiculous. He looked at Hughes pathetically and Hughes shrugged and called out into the living room.

"Hey Roy! Do you still have your old shoes?"

"What?" Roy put his pen down and walked into the bedroom.

"Your old shoes, do you still have them?"

"Oh, yeah," Roy nodded and pulled the box down from the top shelf of the closet. Hughes' uniform still hung inside, and Roy smiled at the thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd finally get a chance to get them all home again. He opened the box and pulled the worn shoes out of the paper. Havoc looked at them sceptically… they were probably three sizes too small for him, but they had no toes so he decided he could probably wear them as far as the shoe store. "He should have to deal with the shoe lady too, though. It's only fair."

Havoc stared down at his feet.

"You think I could wear these for more than an hour?" He shook the box, and a small deep purple pill-like rock fell to the floor. Hughes knelt and picked it up, and held it to the light to examine it. In the light, its colour showed to be an uneven mix of several colours, red, blue, and a very small amount of glinting yellow.

"Roy, what's this?"

"I have no idea." Roy's expression was just as baffled as the others'. "Maybe that was the change the lady gave me. I wasn't really paying attention when we ran out of there."

"Huh," Hughes tossed the stone back to Roy. "Well, I imagine if anyone could figure out what it is, you could."

Roy held the little stone in his hands. It had a strange energy, a sort of odd pull, but it wasn't related to the philosopher's stone – that much he could tell. He remembered the feeling the red stone gave, and imagined the feel of the philosopher's stone was the same. This stone was special, but different. Perhaps it had to do with the power of this world, as opposed to alchemy. He slipped it into his pocket to examine more closely later. Hughes watched as he did so, and nodded.

"Well then, we're off. Good luck on the research, Roy." Hughes patted Roy on the back as he and Havoc walked out.

"Good luck with Mei," Roy called after them. "Havoc, you're lucky you'll only have to see her once."


	15. Deus Ex Machina

(Author's Note: Okay... so I'm having a bit of trouble with writer's block on the ending, so updates might slow down here soon in some kind of effort to budget the chapters until the end. Also, in the final edit of this, there's actually another chapter between this one and the last one that clears up a lot of random loose ends, but I didn't get it done and probably won't get it done until after I write out the ending... Plus, it's getting sort of hard to update regularly so close to Christmas. That's about the end of my excuses, though. Oh, and in many ways I consider a large part of this chapter to basically be cheating. But.. well, it's the only way things will work out in the end. Hehehe. There, excuses done (but there are still no words for how much I hate QuickEdit). On with the chapter!)

* * *

Havoc followed Hughes down the street. He'd given up on wearing Roy's shoes and switched back to his tennis shoes, but he felt ridiculous. He hoped that the shoe store was nearby despite Roy's sarcastic warnings about the shopkeeper. A few blocks later they arrived in front of the little storefront, but Havoc had already given up on the shoes and was walking barefoot, feeling that people were less likely to stare at someone who was barefoot. Though the shop was usually an enigma for anyone who didn't need it themselves, Hughes always seemed to be able to find it easily. Havoc wasn't sure what to expect as he walked in the door. The place smelled musty, but it didn't look threatening or even all that strange. There were just boxes upon boxes of shoes, and an old lady behind the counter. Her smirk was a little unnerving, but that was it. She pulled out three boxes from under the counter and ushered Havoc to the small bench in the centre of the room, handing him the shoes to try on. The first two pairs were close, but didn't quite fit. The third did, however. Havoc was beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. The lady hadn't said a word since he'd come in. She'd just kept smirking at him. True, that was a little weird, and she seemed to be studying him, but normally something as trivial as a leering old woman wouldn't bother Roy so much. He put on the new shoes and paced around the room, getting a better feel for them. When he sat down at the bench again, the lady leaned over and whispered something to him in a language Hughes didn't understand. Havoc looked vaguely startled to hear the language and paused a moment before responding.

"_Diese sind fein, Ich nehme sie._"

The shopkeeper's smile widened into an almost manic grin.

"Beautiful! Your accent sounds almost… French," she smiled, switching back to a language more native to Konoha. "I've been waiting for you. I should have known you'd come last, even if it is out of the proper order. You're the only one that can see it, and being too early would spoil the show. Ah, thank goodness for your mother. Her lot was strange, certainly, but if it weren't for them we'd all be doomed."

Havoc did his best not to openly gawk at her. She sounded like she was just picking out random sentences to sound mysterious. It was easy to make connections with vague prophecies, but the fact that she knew his mother was French startled him. His mother's side of the family hadn't called themselves French since they'd emigrated from France more than a hundred years ago. He remembered his mother's stories about their emigration, too. She hadn't been there, but it lived on as a sort of family myth that naturally no one believed any longer; after all there was no place called France. It had been during a revolution in France - La Révolution, with two capital letters. Her family had decided to escape using some strange dessert called "_Pierre Rouge_." Supposedly their goal was to create something so delicious, it would sweep whoever ate it away to another world. He'd always been amused by the name. It had also been the name of his uncle and one of his cousins. For a crackpot story, it definitely pervaded the family, but they'd always been known for their strange occult ideas. It was part of the reason Havoc had joined the military; at least they had some discipline and, well, sanity. But now this was just getting creepy. He tried to ignore the woman as she got more and more into her story, waving her arms and almost dancing around the room.

"Mmm, it's because she taught you, you see! Otherwise you'd never notice that this is all in a different language," she practically giggled, and continued in an almost singsong tone, turning part of her attention to Hughes. "Ah, and don't worry about his training, Sir Nigredo. The lovely thing about those that can hear the different tongues for what they are is that they have a talent here. _Une puissance pour comprendre la vérité et les mensonges. Parce que vous voyez les deux au même temps, vous pouvez manipuler que les autres peuvent voir. La vérité et la réalité sont à vous._" She smiled at Havoc again. "Think about it."

"Um… thank you. Merci." Havoc managed to smile back at her, trying to keep his brain from following the ridiculous links his mind was busy making. Hughes paid for the shoes and they walked out. As they left, the lady bowed to them and smiled. A friendly smile this time, like they were people she had always known.

"If you need me, he knows how to find me. All you need to do is remember my name. Kamino Mekanikaru. Mei for short."

Havoc mentally translated the name, and smiled. He wondered if she'd named herself that, or if the world really had a sense of humour.

-----

Roy sat at his desk, staring out the window. He'd adopted a corner of Hughes' living room as his own for studying. He'd amassed a few books, but most of them were just there to be books. Ninjas rarely wrote down their theories on chakra, and when they did they weren't very informative. He even had a copy of Icha Icha Paradise he'd borrowed from Kakashi stashed away in one of the drawers, but he'd only read through it once. Ninjas, he found, were depressingly bad writers, though he felt oddly compelled now to see the movie. He'd imagined that the book maybe had some sort of brainwashing technique written into it, then told himself he was being ridiculous and put it away.

He stared at the scribbling in his notebook. It all boiled down to some very unusual theories, but since he knew he had to have eventually figured it out, he had to start somewhere. Though, he reminded himself, Havoc hadn't mentioned how _old_ they were when Hohenhime saw them. Hohenhime… he laughed to himself. He never thought that he'd find himself taking much of his research seriously. When he had known him briefly in Amestris he'd already been researching about the gate, though no one recognized it for what it was. However, at the time it seemed that most of his theories boiled down to chanting around a circle in black hooded robes, whimsical silliness - nothing that looked like serious science. Because he was a bit eccentric though, not many people recognized the significance of Hohenhime's research. They mostly focused on his earlier works in human transmutation. That had been what Roy had gone to see him about, after the Ishbar war. Hohenhime had only given half-baked theories on it when he'd asked directly, though, and his actual research was impossible to decode. Thinking back on it, perhaps Hohenhime had intended for people to think he was a little strange. What better way to keep people away from the powerful and dangerous parts of his research? Look where it'd gotten him. If it wasn't for him and that Dante person, they wouldn't be scattered across three different worlds. He sighed. The mental justification for what he was about to do didn't quite match up, but he pushed the chair back and stood up from the desk anyway. He slipped on his shoes at the door and walked out, then disappeared onto the roofs of Konoha.

He returned about fifteen minutes later with a small specimen in hand and set to work. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could get everything set up before Hughes and Havoc even returned home. After practicing a few more arrays on the paper at his desk, he picked up a marker and sketched the array onto the specimen. He patted it and put it back down on the ground, then turned back to his papers. There was nothing more he could do on this particular front until the two of them returned, so he pulled the stone from his pocket. They were running later than he'd thought.

He turned the stone over in his hand, inspecting it. No matter which way he turned it, the colours inside remained in exactly the same positions. If he moved it up and down though, they shifted slightly. It was like a sort of compass. But what good did that do, if it didn't actually tell him anything about what it was pointing towards? Setting it on the desk, he poked at it with the pencil, tapped it with the eraser, spun it around. On a whim, he picked it up and tasted it. It was breaking a major rule of science ("Don't taste your experiment, no matter how good it smells…" This was also his excuse for never cooking), but for some reason it seemed like a good idea. It tasted like a normal stone would, however, and there was no change in its colours. Well, if all else failed…

He wiped the stone and set it down on his desk again in the centre of one of the circles he'd drawn in his notebook. He tried activating the array around it, and though it didn't summon the gate as it was intended to, the stone's colour changed to a bluer shade while he supplied energy to the array. As soon as he pulled his hands away however, it returned to its original colours. Raising an eyebrow at the strange little stone, he tried a jutsu on it. This time, it changed to red for a moment before fading back to its default state. So, perhaps it detected the type of power… Roy sat back in his seat and stared at it. There was a lot of fun he could have learning about something like this.

-----------

Havoc stood against the wall of the closest thing Konoha had to a general store. He held two cartons of cigarettes possessively to his chest with his left hand while he held his cigarette with his right. The lady behind the counter (who was, thankfully, nothing at all like Mei) had been shocked. No one, she said, had cleaned them out so thoroughly since Asuma had given up on his last attempt at quitting, and that had been years ago. Hughes stood next to him, several bags of groceries and various other items they'd gathered throughout the day sitting at his feet. Havoc took a long drag from the cigarette, then slowly let the smoke drift back out of his mouth.

"Hmm… they taste sort of different here," he took another drag. "But I guess the effect is the same."

Hughes sniffed the air.

"Are you sure you should be smoking those?"

"Tobacco is tobacco, Hughes." Havoc remarked with the weight of a philosophical statement. "It's probably just grown differently here."

"Hmm…"

Havoc leaned back and closed his eyes halfway. He seemed to concentrate on something for a second, then turned his attention back to his cigarette. Hughes watched as two odd chimera creatures hopped by. They stopped in front of him and stared.

"_Hen desu, yo_?" the shorter one said.

"_Oui, il est bizarre_," the taller replied, staring up at Hughes. "_Regarde à-t-il. Il pense que nous n'existons pas._" The two gave Hughes one last look, then seemed to poof out of existence. Hughes glanced over at Havoc.

"That's not nice, you know."

"What's that? I'm the one smoking here, I don't think it's fair that you're the one having hallucinations."

Hughes shook his head.

"I can't believe you took what Mei had to say to heart so easily. If she had told Roy anything useful the first time he saw her, he never would have believed her."

"What about the second time?"

"He won't tell anyone what she said." Hughes shifted his weight to his other foot. "Why did you believe her?"

"As far as I know, no one but my mother's family speaks French in Amestris. As far as I know it's a dead language where they actually came from, and nearly dead at home. To hear it here was just too surreal."

"But you caught on so quickly."

"Yeah… I don't know. I guess it just sort of makes sense. I don't think about it too much, because I know if I do, it'll get too complicated. I don't know how Roy deals with all of it."

Hughes shrugged.

"We should probably head back."

--------

The two arrived at the apartment again a few minutes later. Roy still sat at his desk, staring down at his papers. When they pushed the door open, however, he quickly threw some of them back into his desk and kicked something underneath. It made a small "mew" noise. Hughes paused on his way to the kitchen counter with an armful of groceries.

"What was that?"

Havoc walked over and looked under the desk.

"Roy, I thought you were a dog person."

Roy looked down under the desk at the kitten. It rolled over on its back and purred. Roy petted it with his foot, though the move looked more like he was trying to hide something.

"I am. I wouldn't do this to a dog."

Hughes looked concerned and walked over. He bent down and pulled the kitten out from under his desk. Roy leaned back in his chair and looked up at the two of them. He watched Hughes trace over the array painted onto its stomach.

"What the heck?"

"What? Do you expect me to use an actual baby? This is the closest I can get."

"So this is how you plan to open the gate?"

"Well, I know the concept works. It's just the application that's a problem. First of all I don't know how the power flow works in this world, so I'm going to assume that it doesn't flow directly back to Central or else Al probably would have found a way to contact us by now. I think we'll have to communicate through Hohenhime. I hope he's listening."

Havoc stared at Roy as he rambled off his theory.

"You know, it's so easy to forget how much of a geek you are."

Roy grabbed the kitten from Hughes and shoved it into Havoc's hands.

"Hold this."

Roy clapped his hands together and pressed his right hand against the array on the kitten. It glowed a light blue, but nothing else seemed to happen. Roy looked up at Havoc, vaguely confused.

"Havoc, try to think of how you got to the gate last time."

Havoc for a moment considered trying to trick Roy, since he didn't yet know about his sudden talent for genjutsu. The moment the thought crossed his mind, however, he felt himself kicked forward. The two found themselves standing in front of the gate again. The kitten Havoc was holding began to squirm and claw. He turned and looked at Mustang expectantly. Roy shrugged, and Havoc let the kitten go. The gate remained. He took a step closer, then turned back to Havoc.

"Did Hohenhime mention where he was?"

"No."

Roy paused for a moment, considering this, then looked back again at Havoc. He didn't seem to like to look away from the gate for long, almost entranced by it, drawn in by its power.

"Havoc, I'm going to try something stupid. Please pull me back if I wander too far in."

Havoc nodded as Roy walked forward to the partially-opened doors of the gate. He took a breath, closed his eyes, and stepped halfway inside. The laughing children were once again ominously missing. Roy called out into the blankness in front of him, his mind searching over what it could grasp of the things behind the door. There had to be some clue about Hohenhime's whereabouts. There! He caught it for a second: the fleeting image of a group of solemn men standing around a circle, chanting. He almost smiled. The very epitome of Hohenhime's strange research. He held his hand out towards the image and grabbed at it. A hand from behind him reached in and pulled back, but he kept his hand closed. Suddenly, he and Havoc stood in the centre of a large array, facing Hohenhime. The circle of men seemed to move erratically. Sometimes forward, sometimes backwards. Hohenhime looked up at them from under his hood and stared. He looked absolutely shocked, like the last thing he had expected to see other than the gate was the gate with actual people in it. Several of the people standing around the circle pulled their hoods closer and averted their eyes, continuing their chant as the scene seemed to come into focus. Hohenhime stepped forward, but remained at the edge of the circle staring at them. A faint bit of recognition showed in his eyes when he looked at Roy, but he was unable to make any connection as to who he really was. Roy stepped out towards them, but Havoc held him back, pointing to the line on the ground where the white light of the gate merged with the grey floor of the room. If he crossed that line, he would probably be lost again. A few of the men around them started to mumble something about gods or demons, and Hohenhime shook his head and pulled back his hood. He still remained behind the chalk line, but he made the effort to communicate.

"Hello?" he tried. "Do you speak English?"

Roy stared at him.

"Of course we speak English. What do you think?" Hohenhime looked the two of them up and down again, and the murmuring in the background intensified. Hohenhime scolded them in a language foreign to Roy's ears, but somehow he found he was able to understand it, and he doubted it was only because of the context. He wondered if this was yet another way the gate was able to affect people.

"I'm sorry. I've never seen anyone dressed the way you are, I had no idea what language you might speak."

Roy looked down at his clothes and smirked. He'd forgotten how oddly he was dressed. He shrugged at Hohenhime. Suddenly he and Havoc heard voices behind them. Somehow the gate hadn't taken them away completely, and they could still hear Hughes telling someone else in the apartment to stay back. Roy started to say something, when the shouting behind them became louder.

"_Yamero yo!_" Hughes shouted, and for a second he and a second person appeared before the gate, then just as quickly Roy and Havoc found themselves back at the apartment. Roy stared at Hughes as he yelled at Genma for interrupting them. Genma shrugged, saying that he'd just been curious about what was going on. Apparently he had just picked up the cat and was playing with it. It was good to know that someone could be brought back quickly by using the kitten, though. Roy said nothing as the other three talked further. He was half thinking of the trip through the gate, and now half transfixed by their conversation. He wondered how he'd never heard it as a different language before, though obviously he'd been speaking it himself for months now. After a while, Genma resumed his strange staring at Havoc. Havoc glared at him.

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Sorry," finally Genma decided to give an answer. "I feel like I know you from somewhere." He turned to leave and tapped the key he'd left on the kitchen table. Obviously he and Hughes had been talking about something else before Genma had interrupted them at the gate. "Hughes, please make sure you take care of that, okay?"

Havoc rolled his eyes as Genma left, but waited until the door had closed and he was sure that Genma was far enough away before he started complaining.

"What on earth is with him?"

"Don't mind him Havoc. He doesn't want to admit it, but I think he's somehow fit you into the prophecy Mei gave him."

"Oh…"

"Don't believe everything she tells people, though. I think she was just trying to make him feel better." Roy shook his head and pushed his hair out of his face in frustration. The conversation had changed smoothly back into English after Genma had left. "Oh, by the way Roy, I think Havoc can help us out here more than we thought."

"Oh?"

"Apparently Mei explained genjutsu to him, but half of it was in French."

"Mei did?" Roy paused for a moment and stared at Havoc. "Wait, French?"

"My mom…"

"Oh, right. I didn't know _you_ spoke that too, though."

"I knew."

"But you know everything about my staff, Hughes. It's like you stalk them."

"Only their files."

"Anyway, Havoc, care to demonstrate this newfound skill for us? I can't believe someone actually took her seriously their first time there… and that she said something useful to you on your first visit. Something is definitely foul in the air."

Havoc ignored Roy's scepticism and closed his eyes again for a moment. Around Roy and Hughes the walls of the apartment seemed to shimmer and change. Suddenly, they were back in Central, all three in their uniforms, their new ranks proudly shown on their epaulettes. The office was slightly different, more stately and refined; the office of a high-ranking military officer in peaceful times. It felt real for a moment, and then it was gone again. No one said a word, but Roy nodded and smiled a sad smile at Havoc. There was no question why Havoc had chosen to show them this. They were all more than a little homesick. This wasn't how it was supposed to end, with everyone scattered around these alternate worlds; there was something more important waiting for them elsewhere. Roy swore then that he'd get them all back home, that they'd make sure things had a proper ending.


	16. A Hokage's Secret

The Obligatory **Author's Note**:

**- This chapter belongs between 15 and 16! Keep that in mind, so you don't get confused! - **

Many, many apologies for letting it go so long between updates. I really meant to be better about this, but unfortunately this quarter is hitting me pretty hard in the school obligations department, so writing has been going unusually slow. This chapter actually belongs somewhere in the middle of what is right now Chapter 15, but for now it's going to stay here because if I update and then move it, people will be confused. Next time I update, this one will get moved into place, I guess. There is another chapter that I'm working on that will basically replace Chapter 16, because the time jump in there is almost spork-worthy, and I need more exposition along the lines this chapter starts in order to justify the ending I have planned. After I finish that one though, I'll get back to work on the ending. You will be happy to know that the next two chapters of the ending are outlined on pages 134-146 of my copy of Hobbes' Leviathan, and only need to be turned into something that contains complete sentences. Please bear with me on all this, I imagine it's annoying. I'm a perfectionist, and I have a tendency to want to overjustify things. To everyone who's been leaving reviews, I love you! (They make me write faster. Or at least try to update faster). Hehehehe. Anyway... this has been usually long for one of my Author's Notes, so I'll shut up now and let you get to this little chapter that is so out of place right here (you didn't think I'd let that cliffhanger be fixed when I could do other things, did you?).

* * *

Later that afternoon, Kakashi stood in front of Tsunade's desk in her office, preparing to give his daily report before going out yet again on a surveillance mission. Since Sauske had fled the village and both Naruto and Sakura were being trained separately, he had little else to do and was one of the few ninjas Tsunade could afford to send out to survey the borders and collect information. There was something unusual about this particular meeting, though. Tsunade looked up at the clock, then back at Kakashi as he stood in front of her.

"Kakashi, you're on time. Any particular reason for this?"

Kakashi ignored the comment and began his report. Things had been quiet lately at the border. The closest thing to activity had been the members of Akatsuki slowly gathering together at their headquarters. It was unusual – a thing not seen for at least seven years – and it was a sign that something was happening, or would be happening soon, but it was nothing that they could take any action on. It did seem, Kakashi noted, that they had found something new to concentrate on. This didn't bode well for the assumption that it would be another three years before anyone made their move.

"I think it's pretty obvious now that capturing Naruto and eliminating Orochimaru isn't their only goal. They've got something new that I'm afraid is going to expand their power even further."

Tsunade shuffled through the papers on her desk, skimming over the written reports the others manning the borders had left for her over the past few days. They all had the same basic information, but Kakashi went farther as far as raw speculation. She hadn't had time to read it in its entirety, but she had a feeling she wouldn't need to. It was fairly easy to see that Akatsuki would rely on a surprise attack to make their plan, whatever it might be, easier. Tsunade had heard earlier of Akatsuki's new friend, though. A reliable contact had informed her a few days ago of a young boy who had appeared not far from the borders of the Mist Village. He'd wandered the woods for a few days before being snatched up by Itachi. It wasn't clear yet if he was a threat, or just the man's fancy, however. Time would have to tell on that front. She regretted that Jiraiya was busy with training Naruto – he'd been the source of most of the information the village had on Akatsuki, and now that information flow had slowed to a trickle. She hoped it wasn't too foolish to allow Jiraiya to take time off to train, and she considered calling him back to the village, then realized that her mind was wandering.

What remained though was that Kakashi had nearly been early for this appointment. She watched his eye carefully as he went through the rest of his report, all mundane things. At this point, even the strange experiments Orochimaru occasionally set free to wander the border region were mundane business, but there was something else there. She aimed to squeeze it out of him, but she waited intently for him to finish his report before she struck.

"And I think it's best that you have Jiraiya and Naruto return at once," he continued, unconsciously affirming Tsunade's instinct to do just that and trying his best not to shift uncomfortably under her watchful gaze. He might have been one of the few ninjas left in the village that she favoured enough to trust with her dirty-work, but that didn't mean that the woman didn't freak him out occasionally. It wasn't even her unnatural strength and power. It was, he decided, probably that calculating look she always wore while he was giving his reports, like she was constantly weighing the odds. Perpetually making bets on the future. It was unnerving.

"You do realize that you are no longer in any way responsible for Naruto."

"That's beside the point, I'm worried for this village's safety! Jiraiya alone cannot protect him from Akatsuki, even if neither of you would ever admit it. If Naruto falls into their hands as well, there's very little hope for the future of the village."

Tsunade cleared her throat and folded her hands on her desk.

"And you really think that Naruto isn't mature enough to resist them?"

"It's not a matter of whether or not he'll resist…"

"Haven't you taught him well enough, Kakashi? Doesn't he know well enough not to betray the village?"

There was a flash in Kakashi's eyes. Tsunade congratulated herself on knowing where his buttons were, and how to push them. A little further, and she'd get to the root of what was really irritating him.

"Are you forgetting who he's up against here? This is ludicrous! Five seconds around Itachi and he could be brainwashed against him. And, Sharingan powers aside, who's to say they won't simply release the Kyuubi, or do any number of experiments on him? You've seen those _things_ they've made and let wander out there! Are you aware of anything going on around this village? Or even in it?"

He paused for a moment, considering whether he should continue. Directly questioning Tsunade's governing of the village was dangerous territory. He'd started now though, and it was almost worse to give up the momentum and try to cover for his slip. She wouldn't be likely to let it pass unnoticed. He'd stepped over the fine line he'd been toeing.

"Oh?"

"You turn a blind eye to those men, for example. How is that safe? They just 'fell from the sky.' Do you expect people to believe that? You have no one watching them at all. Has it crossed your mind that they might be spies?"

Tsunade sighed and stood up. For a moment, Kakashi wondered if he'd gone too far.

"So _that's_ all that's been bothering you?" Tsunade laughed, leaning back against her desk and visibly relaxing. Kakashi stared, stunned at her positively flippant manner. It wasn't the reaction he'd expected at all.

"You know something about them that you haven't told any of us," Kakashi stated matter-of-factly. He had little hope that she'd actually share the information, however.

"Well," Tsunade said with a smirk. "As a matter of fact I do. However, if I tell you what it is, you have to agree to take on another job for me."

Kakashi nodded noncommittally, just enough to get Tsunade to continue. He could see now that she'd been leading him to this all along anyway.

"The first one, Hughes – he was never my responsibility. I imagine it was probably Sarutobi that brought him here. It's been many years since anyone's come through the Gate, but I imagine the Third saw a need to bring someone else in, considering the imminent battles."

Kakashi considered this for a moment, but it just didn't sit right.

"Sarutobi had to be bribed into training Hughes. If he brought the man here himself, why didn't he take him in willingly? There was a good chance that he could have been stuck out in the woods indefinitely. It's not easy to just wander into Konoha. Or at least, it never used to be."

Tsunade let the hint of insubordination slide. He hadn't shown this much disrespect for his superiors since before he'd become a Jounin. Clearly he was more stressed than he seemed, and she made a mental note to allow him some more time off. Or, perhaps, the mission she had in mind for him would allow him to relax a little.

"I'm sorry, this isn't like me. Continue. It's been a very long week for me. I'm not used to being on duty constantly," Kakashi apologized, noting Tsunade's look of frustration.

"I should have come to expect it, at this point. It's not fair of me to ask you to take on other responsibility in addition to what I'm already having you do. This will be separate, I promise. You'll work within the village; consider it a break. However, you do, I suppose, need to know the whole story. For one, the story risks being lost very soon. There are only three people alive now that ever knew it. Usually someone only learns of it when they become Hokage. I'm going to need you to learn it and be able to use it, and to do that, I need you to study under Roy Mustang."

Kakashi coughed and raised an eyebrow, trying to stifle some sort of derisive laugh that wanted to escape his lips. Study? Under that cocky man? He'd only just become a Jounin. And he knew Hokage-level information? Kakashi refrained this time from putting his thoughts into words though, and allowed Tsunade to continue.

"I realize it sounds odd, but trust me. There are some things I need you to learn from him that will help us." She stood and walked over to the line of portraits of the past Hokages along the wall. "It actually goes back to the Fourth. Actually, a rather large amount of it was going on while he was training you, but it was never shared outside of the circles of elders. The information was known, on some level, since the founding of the village, but it was the Fourth that took it the farthest. It was discovered not long after Konoha was first founded, that our world was not alone. It was connected, by way of a gate of sorts, to at least one other. I'm not sure, exactly, how they found it originally – it might have been an accident, it might have been a rumour started by someone who had come through, I don't know. But as far as I know, throughout history it's been extremely rare for people to travel between our world and the one Hughes came from. There was a small amount of research done on it in the early times of the village, but there's only been one known incident of anyone going through from our side, and up until now, outside of the rumours of whoever made the discovery, we haven't heard of anyone actually coming through from the other side." Tsunade paused for a moment to watch for whatever reaction Kakashi might have to this strange information, but he seemed to be taking it all in. She continued.

"That clan, though it doesn't matter now, was a very proud part of Konoha village – very in touch with their family history, too. They had an amazing bloodline limit that allowed them to concentrate chakra into solid projectiles that they were able to levitate above their heads. They disappeared through in an accident in the research, it seems. After that, the study was abandoned and labelled as a sort of taboo that only the most powerful ninjas were allowed to know, and only then because we don't like to let information die out. Losing that family was a strong blow to the village so early on, but I imagine if it's really possible for people to go through the gate, then they've safely ended up elsewhere."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this random tangent. Tsunade didn't often wander off on tangents while explaining things. He shrugged at her odd gaze, and she picked up her story yet again.

"It was many years before the actual research scrolls were discovered again. They were encoded, and oddly enough Jiraiya had been hoarding them thinking they were soft-core pornography since he found them in the back of the Third's offices. I'm not entirely sure how the Fourth swiped them, but he was the one that discovered that they were actually coded research. It wasn't until he'd decoded the research and presented it to the Third that Jiraiya admitted it had been stolen. I think he'd been secretly been amused, thinking that Yondaime had a hidden smut fetish. He did look sort of crestfallen when it was pointed out that the scrolls were secretly full of jutsus."

"Anyway, it wasn't much later that Sarutobi named his successor, and between the wars most of what had happened was forgotten, though I assume from what I've seen he and Sarutobi probably continued the research on some level as well. I believe he might have wanted to teach the sannin as well, believing it was now more important for the Konoha ninjas to know the secrets of this world-gate, but by that time all three of us had either left the village or were planning to leave it. Though, in my case even if I had been around to learn, it was outside my area of expertise. In fact, the only one that might have benefited at all from the knowledge was Orochimaru, and I can only hope that he never actually pursued it."

There was a pause in the story again, and Kakashi wondered where, exactly, Tsunade was going with this. It made the recent events make a little more sense, but it didn't seem to relate to them in any way that would require his assistance in whatever plan she had behind this.

"Actually, I also have a sneaking suspicion that Jiraiya also continued the research much later, after the Fourth died. It matches up with his first release, almost exactly." She smiled. "It seems like the sort of joke he'd be likely to play on people, at least. Which leads me to why you're the most qualified for this, being the second foremost expert on Icha Icha Paradise in Konoha."

"Wait… are you telling me Icha Icha is coded research?"

"Yes."

"Jiraiya's… coded research?"

"Probably."

Kakashi stared at a point just above and to the left of Tsunade's shoulder, eyes out of focus as he tried to process this information. It almost bothered Tsunade that, for once, his wandering gaze didn't immediately land on the centre of her chest. It was definitely a sign that she'd affected him.

Kakashi made an incoherent noise of disbelief and blinked a few times, trying to focus. Icha Icha was good smut for being coded research. Maybe Tsunade had gone insane in her old age. Now was not the time to question that, however. He simply nodded and attempted to sum up his assignment.

"So, I'm supposed to see what I can learn about this gate from Mustang, then? Because clearly if more people are coming through now, that means someone has probably figured it out on their side. I also need to somehow decode Jiraiya's..." he coughed, "research. Correct?"

"Yes." Tsunade nodded, motioning to Kakashi that he was free to leave. "Oh, and Kakashi?"

"Yes?"

"Could you see to it that whoever is spreading the rumours about me being _with_ Shizune stops?"

"But I thought you _were_ 'with' Shizune."

"You know what I mean," Tsunade glared.

"Yes, well… the problem is that it's Jiraiya. I think he's jealous. Maybe you should call him back to the village and have a talk with him."

With that, Kakashi turned and left the room.


	17. A Mission

The next morning Hughes and Roy dragged Havoc to visit Tsunade. They were well aware that they were going to have to do some very serious begging and convincing to get her to allow them to take Havoc on the mission that day. When they arrived in front of her office, however, they heard screaming coming from inside. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Roy and Hughes – it was young and somewhat whiny, and the only voice they could think of that fit into that particular description was Sakura. Havoc put his ear to the door and tried to listen.

"Can you make out what she's saying?"

Roy shrugged helplessly, and Hughes disappeared, presumably to spy on the scene from outside the window where it would be easier to hear. His ability to disappear whenever it was convenient was unnerving, and Roy and Havoc were left to listen at the door as nonchalantly as possible. After a few staring passers-by, however, they resigned themselves to leaning against the wall and catching what small bits they could. There was nothing better to do, and they couldn't leave for the mission without Sakura, or at least some third member of the team.

About five minutes later Hughes reappeared at their side, smirking. Sakura stormed out of the office, barely pausing to glare at Roy and Hughes, then stomped down the hallway and out the door. Havoc raised an eyebrow at the two of them, but they only shrugged and walked into the office.

Tsunade sat behind her desk looking vaguely frazzled and more than a little frustrated. She barely glanced at Roy and Hughes as they walked in, but watched Havoc instead. The three of them stopped in front of her, and she simply shook her head.

"I don't know what you two did to Sakura, but she just swore that she would never work with you, even if I killed her. I don't_ want_ to know what you did to her, but she wants me to tell you that she thinks you're both creepy, and she wants Mustang to stay away from her mother. Now, you'd think you've already caused me enough trouble today but I see you've brought someone else with you."

"We'd like to request that he be allowed to become the third member of our team."

Tsunade gave an exasperated sigh and looked as if she was ready to start banging her head on her desk at any moment.

"Just… fine. But I'm not training him. He dropped from the sky, he's yours. You know I don't have enough people to fill in the rest of your team anyway." She shook her head. "I don't understand why Sarutobi took you in, Hughes. You men are trouble. Just go downstairs and get ready. It's already late because I had to listen to Sakura. I hope you read the mission last night, because it's longer than usual."

Roy and Hughes masked their panic perfectly. Neither of them had read anything last night. Well, maybe Roy had skimmed the cover because it was sitting on his desk. He might have doodled on it… but he hadn't read it. They simply nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait, will you at least tell me his name?"

"Sorry. I'm Jean Havoc," he nodded to Tsunade, and followed the other two out.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair. She wanted to scream. No one was taking anything seriously anymore because everyone was convinced that neither Orochimaru nor Akatsuki would make a move for another two years. It was a silly fantasy, and she couldn't believe that so few people in the village hadn't been taken in to it. They probably weren't paying attention, but she could feel the movements starting already. Nothing was more effective than a year-early surprise attack on the village. She turned to the pictures of the past Hokages lining the wall, and silently called to them for help.

Downstairs in what was basically a locker room Roy, Hughes, and Havoc pulled on their thick cloth armour and assembled their various weapons. They passed the mission assignment back and forth as they got ready. Hughes was obsessively checking his equipment, Havoc looked somewhat nervous and excited, but that was no different from his usual state of mind before missions. Roy, whenever he wasn't holding the mission report and skimming through it, would snap his fingers and keep the flame between his index finger and thumb, then dance it across each of his fingers individually, spreading it evenly on each finger, then converting the energy to chakra. He imagined the trick was mostly useless, but he'd taught himself anyway. It had taken ages to learn, but he felt that the accomplishment in control was worth the effort. He was about to repeat the exercise with his left hand when Hughes nudged his shoulder. It was time to go. They were to patrol to the far west borders of the village. Many people had seen suspicious creatures in the forest near there and were starting to suspect that something suspicious was going on just outside the reaches of the village. It was an all-day surveillance, and they were to do what they could to gather any and all information relating to it. Normally a mission assignment like this would barely be more than a page long, but this one was three. Though seemed to say nothing extra, the length of the report told the group that they were permitted to go well outside of the mission's outlines. It couldn't be written directly, but they were to spy outside the village on the groups Tsunade suspected of causing the unrest at the borders.

The three walked to the outside of the village, Hughes and Roy doing their best to explain to Havoc what he'd need to know. In hindsight, it had been a stupid idea to force him to come along on his first mission so soon, but having scared Sakura away rather permanently they assumed they'd had no other choice. All of the other jounin and chuunin were out on other missions, presumably of the same type in different border areas. Luckily the three of them had been sent to an area that hadn't seen much action in recent days. They hoped that it would remain the same, at least for a while, as they ran through the trees. At first Roy and Hughes led Havoc through the treetops, but his balance was still awkward and eventually they moved to the ground. It was noisier, but Havoc made up for it by cloaking them in a genjutsu. It was better than worrying about him falling from the trees and ending up injured before they even got anywhere. As their pace slowed over the miles, Hughes considered hiding Havoc's cigarette's from him. He was doing a good job hiding his shortness of breath, but he wasn't travelling at half the pace Roy and Hughes were used to. It was a wonder he didn't have a smoker's cough, considering he averaged two packs of cigarettes a day. They continued on.

The area along the eastern border had at one time been a hotbed for Orochimaru's plotting, but he had retreated farther into the neutral territories between villages after his unsuccessful attack on Konoha. Most assumed he was now training Uchiha Sauske for the purpose of taking over his body and commanding the power of the Sharingan. They had no doubt that there was also some perverted sense of revenge involved against the members of Akatsuki, specifically Sauske's brother Itachi, on the part of both of them. Akatsuki was a group of untouchables. They were all missing-nins, but they were recognized as too powerful for even a squad of Anbu to bring down alone. On top of that, they always moved in groups. All was quiet along the eastern border on this day, but despite the quiet Havoc reinforced their concealing jutsu. It was all he could do to help, knowing that if they were in a real fight he could do little aside from hide in the trees and watch. He was used to using guns as weapons, and there were none of those here. It was a scary culture of up-close fighting and deception. A real battlefield in the middle of real wars. The sort of thing only Roy had really seen.

They surveyed everything within a mile radius of two points along the outreaches of the eastern border where the strange creatures had been seen. They found nothing, though, barely even any signs that humans had been in the area at all. It was almost too untouched to be abandoned, like someone had taken great care to cover up something that had gone on there recently. There was no sign of genjutsu though, and very few people were likely, or even capable of taking the time to fix even broken tree branches. They noted what they had seen and returned to the village. The surveillance continued like this for several months, and the trek to the missions soon became a sort of game. Hughes would disappear outside of Havoc's genjutsu, now high in the trees, and try to find ways to break it. Havoc's attention was remarkably hard to break, even when Roy tried from within the genjutsu. They found that he was only able to extend the illusions about 20 feet before they broke down, and they were much more effective concentrated in one area. Hughes had even talked Genma into showing Havoc how to handle a sword properly, since neither he nor Roy had ever taken the time themselves. Havoc had complained at first, claiming that Genma scared him, but the two learned to get along once they got to know each other, and Havoc found that Genma was, in reality, a very good teacher. He managed somehow to cut back on cigarettes to less than a pack a day. His justification was that Konoha tobacco was stronger, but Roy and Hughes knew he was doing it to keep up with them. They admired the amount of self-discipline he showed when it came to his training. It was almost like he was living out a sort of dream he'd had, or at least Hughes imagined that to be the case. Perhaps Havoc was still rebelling against his mother, though it was ironic that in a way her ability to maintain her strange spiritual delusions was somewhat reflected in Havoc's skill with genjutsu. It wasn't rare for Hughes to wonder if it was actually connected somehow.

Despite their busy schedule, Roy still managed to set aside a little time each day for research. Hughes often wondered if he ever bothered to sleep, but somehow he was able to continue on without looking even vaguely tired. He only made one more attempt to contact Hohenhime through the gate, this time catching him much later in his timeline than before. He'd talked to Al since their last meeting, and again since he had seen Havoc with Al. He was nearing a very dangerous part in the history of his world, and he told him it would be best to avoid contacting him again, but to watch out for energy fluctuations between the worlds and be prepared to take advantage of it. Something big was coming.

Things on the eastern border remained suspiciously quiet. It had been nearly two and a half months since the three had started their daily survey of the border when a group of Jounin, including Kakashi, returned from a deeply secret mission to the outskirts of the Akatsuki hideout. They hadn't, according to the reports, moved at all in months outside of errands for goods and supplies. They had clearly come across something interesting, and were squirreling it away until the ideal time arrived. A second group returned to the village about a week later with even more startling news. Orochimaru, in his new body, seemed to have swallowed his pride and was returning to Akatsuki with Sauske in tow. It wasn't clear if they were preparing their revenge, or if they were after whatever it was that Akatsuki had discovered and were ready to make amends in order to get their hands on it. There was a lot of speculation about what it could be that Akatsuki was protecting so closely, but one thing was certain – Tsunade had been right about them not waiting to make their move for another three years. With Orochimaru on the move, it wouldn't take long now for the other shoe to drop.

At a meeting soon after Tsunade gathered all the ninjas of rank above chuunin together and gave the order. Surveillance was to continue as usual, but slowly concentrate closer to the Akatsuki hideout, and watch out for any indication of what they could be trying to build or create or research. They were to make the missions as covert as possible, while groups on the borders continued searching as usual, making more "noise" to detract attention from the more important movements. Within a week they would close in, hopefully catching the group off-guard. It was a risk, but taking down the two largest threats to Konoha in one place when they weren't expecting it was a gamble Tsunade had decided to take. A few messengers were sent out to other villages for help, though not much was expected. Orochimaru was largely considered Konoha's problem, and most other villages were blissfully unaware of Akatsuki's activities. They also expected many of the villages to want to take advantage of the now-weaker Konoha. They wouldn't attack outright, but there were still many villages that were jealous of Konoha's practical monopoly over the job offerings of the nobles. Anything that would get the village down was to their advantage, and they knew that Konoha had been able to take fewer and fewer jobs lately. The entire continent seemed to tense. Word had gotten out, but the information was left horribly unspecific. It looked to most villages as if Konoha was trying to hold another chuunin exam to regain their dignity, and the notices were ignored. What mattered was that they knew Konoha was up to something. If war broke out, they would know what to do.


	18. Akatsuki

(I'm pretty sure I remember editing this chapter... forgive me if there are any glaring mistakes in it, they'll get fixed later, I promise. I've been really bad about updating lately, but I've been working, so I'm trying to make up for it a bit now. Err... otherwise... This was probably one of my favourite chapters while I was writing it, but I sort of feel it worked better before I put that extra chapter in. Happy Holidays!)

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Within the caves that served as Akatsuki's headquarters, things were far from quiet. They had been lucky a month ago when their trump card arrived by way of a discovery Itachi had made while wandering between several of the villages. Command of his powers would be even more useful than having control of the Kyuubi sealed within Naruto. 

The young man Itachi had brought back was short to say the least, but somehow managed to command a very imposing presence. He couldn't have been more than eighteen, but something behind his eyes showed that he had seen a lot more than most teens, even those that were ninjas, were likely to see. When he had arrived with Itachi, several of the other members of the organization had hypothesized that he was another one of the man's paedophilic fancies and dismissed him. They soon found, however, that the boy was working for Itachi in a different way. It was common for the members of the group to keep secrets from each other, but they were never allowed to keep them from the leader. As soon as he found out, and forced the boy to demonstrate his abilities, the rest of the group was immediately put to work waiting on the boy. His little demonstration of his power had left one of the members incapacitated – not only drained of his chakra but apparently completely cut off from the world's energy. It was enough to convince them that this boy was worth supporting. Itachi had found someone who was trying to find a way to harness all the power of their world into one person – himself. And unlike the usual crackpots and nutcases who claimed that they would be able to perform this feat, the skills the boy was able to show them proved this point. Their captive was willing to work for them, as long as they provided him with shelter, food, and materials. It was a sacrifice this boy had made before – offering himself to a group of people with questionable morals and ends to support his own research and goals. This time around, it was more out of frustration than anything else. Last time he had gone to do his research of his own initiative, with people he chose himself and trusted, and in the end it had led to disaster. He considered himself lucky to have been found by these people who had the means to support him and were willing to stay out of his way. If he happened to help them along the way, so be it, as long as they were willing to provide for him. He didn't care what they did to this forsaken world; it didn't belong to him or anyone he cared for. What he really wanted was to just finally find a way home.

At least in this world he was able to draw on the power he was used to relying on. Mechanics had betrayed him in the end, and he turned his attention back to the only other place he knew to look: direct research on the gate. In his concentration he barely noticed that he was cloistered so secretly away in a cave in the woods. It felt more like an underground lab, and he used it as such. The power was different in this world, and it seemed to operate on a slightly different principal than equivalent trade. The sacrifice, it seemed, was more mental and personally physical than manipulating the elements themselves, though things could still be done in the latter fashion. It was the former than piqued his interest, though. Power here could be pulled from without as well as within. If he could borrow enough of this power, perhaps he could get back to the gate and back home. Daily the amount of power he drew into the caves grew, and the members of Akatsuki fed off of it. They knew that the influx of power would draw people in, and soon they would have more company. They expected those that were closest to appear first, and soon they did, answering a call of fate. Their potential allies would feel the pull and come to them, and they would be prepared. The urge to battle was upon them.

The small groups of rogue ninjas from the surrounding areas were the first to appear at the entrance to Akatsuki's no longer secret hideout. Their guard remained up, but those that survived the challenges outside were welcomed within, though kept separate from the group members that didn't want to be seen. And it wasn't long before greater powers from the farther reaches of the influx appeared.

Orochimaru arrived with Sauske in tow at the height of the power's draw. Glares and even some snickering greeted him, but he found none wanting to fight. Sauske was pale, and his eyes showed only hate when he noticed his brother. He said nothing, however. He didn't utter a single word while within Akatsuki's lair. He only sulked and glared, cursing Orochimaru for betraying him by coming here. This was not supposed to be part of his training. He wasn't permitted to observe Itachi here, and if he were to attack him and test his strength, he'd be killed seven times before he even got close. Sauske watched the way Itachi treated the boy in the red coat. It seemed almost as if he had adopted him as his younger brother. This, more than anything else, made Sauske loathe Itachi even more. He knew, however, that the boy in the red coat was the one Orochimaru was here to see. This boy, Orochimaru believed, held the key to the problem with his jutsus. Orochimaru knew, from something someone had once told him, that it would be this boy that would be the one to finally solve the one problem with his body-switching jutsu. He was prepared to say whatever he needed to in order to be allowed to get close to the boy, and he did. The members of Akatsuki had laughed when he accepted the offer to re-enter the group at the lowest levels. It was an affront to his dignity, but with the power of the boy, he wouldn't have to worry about Akatsuki at all. He knew that once he got close enough, his problem would get the boy's attention, and after that he would be at his fingertips. After almost a week of supplicating himself to Akatsuki, Orochimaru laid out his offer: one piece of information that they all needed, in exchange for an hour to talk with the boy. Itachi, against his own best judgement but with the leader's urging, granted it.

"Thank you," Orochimaru smiled. "Now I will tell you what you wanted to know. The leaf is the only village watching you right now, and even they aren't serious about it. If you're careful, you can get what you want while they're not watching."

"This sounds like you are just trying to get us to get revenge on them for you."

"Oh no, I will take down Konoha myself when the time comes. But if you're not careful with this boy's draw of power, they will move in on us and put a stop to things before you get whatever it is you want from him. And in that case, I will still get my revenge. But you will not get what you seek."

"Very well. Do what you can to prevent Konoha from interfering."

"Thank you. Kabuto is already training the ninjas of the Sound for that very purpose."

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Orochimaru walked into the dark study near the back of the caves. It was remarkably isolated even within the headquarters, but he could feel the draw of the power stored within. The boy had promised not to draw on any of their chakra, but one didn't get to the top without being at least a little distrustful, especially of people that Itachi randomly found lying around the woods. He tried to keep himself as neutral as possible as he stepped between the heavy doors. He watched the figure bent over a pile of notes and well-worn books scrawling things into a small notebook as he grumbled a greeting that basically meant "Wait until I'm finished." Orochimaru turned his attention to the walls. They were covered in strange circles and symbols, none of which he'd ever seen before. They had a kind of flowing grace to them though, and had they not been glowing with the strange power he'd felt outside of the room, he would have doubted their use for anything other than strange decorations. There was one in particular that all the others seemed to feed into, and in the centre of its wing-shaped design sat a small stone. It was a deep shade of red when looked at in the right light. A small step to either the left or right of the angle though made it appear a very deep blue. It was strange, and despite his instincts, Orochimaru leaned down to touch it.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," the boy said without looking up from his papers. He was still writing, evidently recording very detailed results from the day, or perhaps writing out some kind of epiphany he'd had earlier and couldn't afford to forget. Orochimaru pulled his hand back. The stone had a strange warm aura around it, but when his hand got too close he could feel his chakra being drained out into it. Still it pulled him in though, seeming to promise that as soon as his hand touched the stone, all of its power would be his. He restrained himself, though. Any boy powerful enough to get the members of Akatsuki to wait on him hand and foot, through whatever means, deserved a little respect.

Finally the boy put down his pen and turned to Orochimaru.

"Okay, what do you need me for?"

Orochimaru grinned and stepped forward towards the boy.

"I have a problem I think you might be interested in." With a great amount of effort Orochimaru raised his left hand and pulled his right sleeve back, revealing the skin on the lower part of his arm. "A few years ago, I formulated a jutsu that would allow me to switch bodies. A key to immortal life." He paused to laugh. "I had intended to use it for the pursuit of knowledge. I would learn every jutsu in the world once I gained the use of the Sharingan. But something was wrong. At first I thought it was part of the jutsu that Sandaime had performed to seal my soul, but it continued even after I transferred by soul to another body." He looked down at his arm. "It started at the top of my shoulders and worked its way down. I know that it's not the host body's fault, though I'd like to put the blame there. I think the problem has to do with my transfer technique."

The boy pushed his chair back from his desk and stood. He took Orochimaru's hand in his and stretched his arm out by his side, pushing the sleeve further up his arm and looking at the strange affliction. It was no doubt the same degeneration of the body he'd seen in his father when he'd admitted to having transferred his soul to other bodies over several hundred years. What could this man give him in return for what he knew, though?

"How did this Sandaime seal your soul?"

"It was a jutsu the previous leader of the village invented. Using your own power, you draw out the soul of your opponent and seal them into the spirit world behind this gate." The boy froze at the word gate, and barely heard what Orochimaru had to say next. "He was only able to seal my arms, though."

A gate where souls were sealed away? And there was a way to open it here… This was much more interesting than the gates he'd heard about advanced taijutsu users opening. Perhaps the concept was the same, but a jutsu that could extract someone's soul was far beyond the bounds of taijutsu. This fit with his theory that the gate wasn't a purely physical thing. He wondered if perhaps this unnerving pale and jittery man in front of him actually knew anything about the jutsu himself. He'd said he wanted to learn every jutsu… surely he'd learned something about one he'd experienced directly? The boy was almost certain that Orochimaru's illness was related to the fact that part of his soul had been pulled from his arms. It would make sense that the symptoms were the same as those when the soul began to break down from being transferred from one body to another. But here there was no philosopher's stone. It was nearly impossible in alchemy to transfer a soul into a living host and even more difficult, perhaps entirely impossible, to transfer a soul into a body that already had a soul without the help of the philosopher's stone. How had he done it, then? As far as the young man could tell, the closest this world had to the philosopher's stone was the small rock he was using to collect the power here. Perhaps some bartering for information was in order.

"How much do you know about the sealing jutsu?"

Orochimaru raised an ominous eyebrow. This boy was strange.

"You're interested in that more than immortal life?"

"I know enough about the ways people delude themselves into believing they've found eternal life. All things eventually break down. It's a law of the universe. I want to know why. So what can you tell me?"

"Are you saying you can help me?"

"I might be. But there's a price. Do you or don't you know the sealing jutsu?"

"I do."

"Good. Then you'll teach me how it works, and then I'll show you where you went wrong." His answer sounded more like a threat than an offer, and he punctuated it with a glance down at the stone. Orochimaru chose to ignore the double meaning.

"I want to know more than that. I want you to fix it."

"Give me a few days, I'll look into it."

"Good. Oh, and one thing Akatsuki would like you to know: Save the power from Konoha for last. They are the ones watching us, and if they feel it, they will come for us too soon." Orochimaru turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Edward Elric put his head down on his desk and tried to steady his breathing. He was shaking now, but no longer made an effort to hide it. These men were scary and hollow and power-hungry. Far scarier than even the Homunculus had been in their quest for power. At least they had only longed to be human. These men didn't bother with concepts like "humanity." The only way to deal with them was to pretend that you knew something they didn't. Power was the only effective weapon against them. At least he'd played his cards right when he met them. Dealing with the military had taught him that. He'd even kept them from having the power of knowing his real name – they knew him only as Hagane. He was sick of having to act tough, and he was sick of having to act like a bad guy, he was sick of not being able to use his right arm, he was sick of walking with a limp, and most of all he was sick of trying to find a way to make things right only to find himself even further away from where he longed to be. How did all of these trials and tribulations even begin to fit into the law of equivalent trade? It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair at all.


	19. Breakthrough

Hohenhime set down his pen and put his head down on his desk. Everything here was a mess, and up until this point his connections had been taking care of him, but the research they wanted him to do was absurd. The walls were caving in around the regime they had built up, and what they wanted from him most was a way out. He found that he didn't particularly care what the rest of the world thought of their ideas, but they were angry with him anyway. He hadn't been able to make contact with the gate at all for weeks now. The war was drawing to a close, and they believed he was switching back to the winning side and hiding whatever he'd discovered from them.

With a sigh he closed the book in front of him and gathered what he could from his desk. Tonight would be the night. They'd already divided Germany in two – it wouldn't be long before his former associates began to consolidate their debts, himself included. He'd decided he'd flee back to London. If he was careful, they wouldn't suspect him. His research in Germany had been covert enough that they wouldn't detain him for information. Everyone knew now that it would only be a few days before the Americans finished off the war. That would be the time, he assumed. Hopefully Al would be ready. He only wished that perhaps there would be a way to get through to Al and warn him that the time was coming. One last time, he drew the array out on the floor. If worse came to worse, he could perhaps escape through the gate to some other period in history and avoid the trouble entirely. Perhaps…

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Al had graciously received Colonel Alex Louis Armstrong when he arrived at the house in Rizembool, but even with the extra help the research was going slow. He was forced to work only in concepts not because he still couldn't get near the gate, but because Rose had taken every precaution to keep her baby away from him. Al was barely allowed to look at the child anymore, let alone touch it. The way she watched him hurt, but he wasn't desperate enough to bring up the topic of his brother to Rose as a bargaining tool. He respected her motherly instincts, even if they were an extreme inconvenience to his research. Armstrong at one point suggested using some sort of animal for the experiments, but Al refused. They knew that it would work with the child, and being pragmatic, Al had refused to drag more innocent lives into his mess. It was a kind of impasse, and Al had almost considered sneaking the child away once or twice while Rose slept, though he promised himself he'd never follow through no matter how desperate he became.

Winry, noticing Al's frustration, had even offered herself as a guinea pig. Al had refused her though, saying her mind was far too focused on the mechanical to get close enough to the gate. Rather than take it as an insult however, Winry simply smiled and went back to her work. Secretly she was flattered. As Al planned further into the future on what he'd have to do to get Ed back without going through the gate, he'd asked her to find a way to create a machine they could control from one side to use to communicate with the people on the other side without going through themselves. She'd happily obliged, and soon had an array of different remotely controlled mechanical vehicles that she steered around the room to amuse Rose's child.

Help finally came unexpectedly in the form of a sloppily-clad dark-haired boy. After Al had trained to the limit of her expertise, Izumi had dedicated herself to finding the closest thing she had to a son: the homunculus Wrath. After weeks of searching she'd finally found him living like a vagrant off of scraps stolen from a nearby farm. It hadn't been clear why he'd disappeared after Winry was kind enough to fit him with Ed's automail, but Izumi wasn't going to let him escape her care again. She'd thought that she'd lost him, and even if he wasn't entirely human, she was willing to take him in as her son anyway. Izumi took him back to Dublith, determined to make things right again. The first thing she did was purge the red stone from him. She sealed it in a vial that she then kept around her neck, a reminder of her sin. It took a while for him to adjust, but soon Wrath was behaving as a normal kid would under Izumi's care, and she couldn't help but be proud of him. Somehow he was able to overcome losing the entire group that had been his only family and watching the one he saw as his mother killed in front of him. Izumi took pride in the fact that, even if he was a sin, under her care he could be an innocent one.

And thus Izumi ended up at the Rockbell's house with her little Moofy in tow to show him off. Winry tuned up and adjusted his automail, then showed him how to work the controls for the little vehicles that almost constantly zipped across their living room floor. He entertained Rose's baby while Al discussed things with his sensei in his study.

"I haven't been able to make contact with the gate at all since I lost Havoc. I barely know what to do anymore; there aren't many more leads to follow. I know more about what I'm going to do _after_ I get the gate open than I do about how I'm going to get there. Which I suppose works… except I have absolutely no way of getting there at all anymore."

Izumi considered this for a moment, fingering the vial around her neck out of habit.

"What do you need to get to the gate?"

"In general, someone or something that is naturally close to the gate. Last time it was Rose's baby, because Dante had drawn an array onto it to break the bond between the mind and body in order to send people through the gate. But now Rose won't let me near the child, and I don't want to drag anyone innocent into this." Al shrugged helplessly. "I just don't know what to do."

Izumi paused and looked down at the vial resting between her fingers. She knew that there was still some part of the equivalent trade that she hadn't fulfilled. Regaining her son was something she considered priceless. He might be the missing piece, and though she didn't like to admit it, he was far from anyone "innocent," and there was little doubt that he was still close to the gate. Going back there was one of his biggest fears, he had nightmares about it, but perhaps facing it would do him good. It wouldn't be the first time Izumi had scared irrational fears out of someone close to her. She sighed as she considered her choices, finding little alternative. She hoped, and deep down knew, that Wrath would endure it for her, because she was a mother that wouldn't abandon him again.

"I actually think we might be able to help."

Al noted the pained expression on Izumi's face as she said this. He'd been watching the different emotions on her face as she thought through her response, and knew immediately that she was going to suggest Wrath. The poor boy had been through so much already.

"Are you sure you really want to let us use him?"

This time Izumi didn't sigh. Instead she straightened up in her seat and stated with firm resolve: "Yes. It has to be done, and if he doesn't understand that now, he will later. I think I can deal with him being angry with me for a while."

"We're going to have to do this more than once."

"I know."

Al smiled a small smile at his sensei. She never ceased to amaze him; what he felt for her wasn't so much love as it was immense respect. She was so many things his mother hadn't been, allowing him to respect her and also keep his distance. Izumi was outgoing, strong, and resolute, whereas his mother had been quiet and soft. The same strength was there, for how else could Trisha have waited so long for Hohenhime to return? But it was these differences that kept Al from ever thinking of Izumi as a mother figure.

"Thank you." Al stood and gave Izumi a hug. It was an unusual gesture towards the imposing woman, but she didn't protest. Armstrong stood behind them watching the entire conversation, tears silently running down his cheeks. Izumi glared and him, then she and Al left the study and returned to the living room. Wrath was still happily playing with the cars in the living room, but ran to his mother when she stepped into the room. He looked up her and when he noticed the look in her eyes he backed away.

"What is it?"

"I need you to do mommy a favour, okay Moofy?"

He looked up at her with a wary innocent smile and nodded. Izumi gathered Wrath into another hug and lifted him off the floor, carrying him into the study. Al followed, and shut the door again behind him. Izumi put Wrath down in the centre of the room and knelt down to talk to him again.

"Do you remember where you came from?" An innocent smile as Wrath pointed to Izumi. Izumi smiled back, but pressed on. "Where did you come from after that?"

A look of horror crossed his face.

"The gate…" he whispered.

"Do you remember the way back there?"

Despite Izumi's soothing tone, Wrath's eyes widened in shock.

"No! I don't want to go back!"

"Shh, shh. It's okay. You only need to take your big brother Al there. I promise you won't have to go inside. I'll hold your hand the entire time." For the first time Al had seen, a look of distrust crossed Wrath's face as he looked at Izumi, but the boy nodded anyway, sniffling a little and holding back tears. Izumi kissed his cheek and ruffled his already messy black hair. "That's my little Moofy. Thank you."

Al smiled sadly at the two of them and set to work on the transmutation circle he'd need to get in touch with his father again. He hoped that Hohenhime had made some progress where he hadn't in terms of connecting to the third world through the gate. Al decided that drawing the array on Wrath himself would be awkward, and settled on a larger version of the circle on the floor, similar to the one Hohenhime and his group had been using last time. As he dusted the chalk off of his hands he noticed that Wrath still held one of the small remote controls for the cars in the living room. That would be useful, he reminded himself, and went out to fetch one. He relegated the duty of its control to Armstrong, who would stand outside the circle and make sure nothing went wrong. Al didn't want to take the chance that Hawkeye would have to cover up the disappearance of another one of her staff members. Armstrong would also prove if the little mechanical car would work from one side of the gate to the other. They would still need something bigger to retrieve Ed and the others, but it was a start. Izumi and Wrath stepped into the middle of the circle and Al clapped his hands and touched the chalk outline. It glowed with a light shade of blue, and a strange wind kicked up from the lines of the circle. Wrath screamed, and suddenly the three were kicked into a white empty room. The gate was there again, and the tiny faces and hands seemed to call out to Wrath. Izumi held him tightly, and Al thanked him again before he strode towards the gate. He hoped that Armstrong was still able to see what was going on outside of the circle like Hohenhime's companions had been. The little car that followed at his heels encouraged him, and he commanded the children of the gate aside. Remarkably they obeyed, seeming to disappear to guard another entrance elsewhere. Al closed his eyes and reached inside, searching for any sign of Hohenhime. He found him again in a rather turbulent area, far from where he'd been before. He grabbed a hold of the area and motioned for the car to drive through. It ran towards Hohenhime's feet at the outside of the circle, but stopped dead at the outermost line. Armstrong backed it up and made a second run, but it stopped dead again. It didn't work outside of the circle. Hohenhime smiled down at Al as he stood in the door, and stepped forward to speak to him again. This time he was careful not to step into the circle itself until he absolutely had to. Being thrown too far through history was never comfortable.

"Father!" Al exclaimed. "Have you found out anything new about my brother?"

"Alphonse, it's taken you a long time to get back here." Hohenhime smiled, relieved, then suddenly his expression turned more serious. "I'm surprised you were able to contact me here. This is a very volatile period in this world's history. If you are lined up with this now, then the third world must also be close. Listen, in a few days your time there is going to be a very, _very_ large increase in power. That will be what you need to get through to the third world. I'm afraid you'll find your brother there as well now. There was a bit of an accident in his research. I can only hope he's still okay, but I fear this has something to do with him. I haven't got much time, so please be off. Do what you can, and don't worry about me here. I was wondering what the power here was building up for, but I can feel it now from the gate. I'm afraid of what this might do, so you have to do your best to stop it. Tear a hole in the gate if you have to. The draw on the power would do the same anyway. I don't know what it is, but make sure it doesn't happen."

The power currents made the image of Hohenhime fade in and out, and as he reached the end of his warning Al finally lost his hold on that particular part of history and fell back out of the gate. The eyes reappeared, staring out at him as if expecting a payment, reaching again towards Wrath. He turned to Izumi.

"Let's go back."

Izumi gave Wrath a nudge, and he unburied his face from her chest for a moment, suddenly landing them back in the study. Al sighed and sat down in the middle of the circle with his face in his hands.

"Brother, what have you done?"

Armstrong waited a moment respectfully before interrupting.

"Alphonse, what about the car? It got left behind."

Al shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. We'll have Winry build a bigger one."

"It won't cause problems there?"

"It doesn't work there without a link to our world."

"Yes… but…"

"Don't worry about it." Al stood up and walked back over to his desk. He sat down and started writing, and soon Izumi excused herself from the room.


	20. Countdown

(Yet another mini-Author's Note: Err… for those of you that have me on author alert… disregard that random story. That was my little sister, who somehow got into my account while I was still logged in. If you really care to read intentionally poor-written Passions-Highlander crossovers though… umm… I think she left it on my computer somewhere. New Year Fools? Anyway! This chapter's a bit of a short one, but I think it's the very first that focuses only on Naruto characters. It'll probably be much longer in the final version, because there's a lot more going on behind the scenes now that I need to point out. And everyone will be happy to know that this story does actually have an ending now. It's outlined, but not written. I'll probably write it on the train back to school tomorrow night, if I'm still awake. Hooray! And sorry about that random story thing… hehehe. I should know better than to leave my laptop around like that).

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It was midday in Konoha, but the light of the sun didn't brighten the village as it usually did. A strange pallor settled over the village. They had begun to feel it the night before – the world's power was being pulled away into some distant black hole of chakra. It was the final sign they'd been waiting for, and when it began the village actually seemed to relax. The tension that had been building up since it was discovered that Akatsuki was about to make their move was quickly funnelled into their preparations for the imminent battle. Nearly half of the village would leave later that night for Akatsuki's hideout. Few people, at a time like this, would think to take the time to stop and eat, but two people were sitting in the Ichiraku anyway. The store owner treated them both for free, grateful for the distraction from the ominous atmosphere of the day. 

For the first time Jiraiya had seen, Naruto at his ramen slowly, actually taking the time to taste it. He allowed himself to smile a little – it had barely been a year since the two had left to start his training and already he had matured a lot. He still hadn't lost his childish side, but he kept it in check more effectively. Perhaps, Jiraiya thought, it was because since Sauske had disappeared he had a more immediate goal in sight than becoming Hokage. Becoming the Hokage was nebulous goal, and there were too many different ways to get there for it to provide the right kind of motivation. Naruto still sought Sauske's recognition though, and had promised to return him to the village. And he would do that. Jiraiya had worked hard to convince Tsunade that it would be best for Naruto to come along, despite the fact that he was still technically a genin. It wasn't hard to prove that Naruto was on the level of most chuunin as far as power went, but she still insisted that he didn't have the control or strategy necessary to accompany them. He'd promised to keep an eye on him, and though Tsunade believed that distracting Jiraiya during the battle would be a major disadvantage, she'd grudgingly agreed, hoping that he had his own plan. Jiraiya wouldn't have asked for Naruto's help if he didn't have a reason for it.

He turned his attention back to Naruto. It was unusual for him to be silent for this long, especially before a battle where he could finally prove himself.

"Are you ready for tonight?"

Naruto nodded and continued eating.

"Don't brood on this too much, Naruto. You shouldn't distract yourself."

"I know." It was almost unnerving to see Naruto this serious, but after a few more bites his trademark determination lightened the expression on his face. "I'll bring him back for sure! I promised!"

"Good," Jiraiya smiled and took a small sip of his sake. "You remember what you need to do?"

Naruto nodded again.

"Of course I know!"

Naruto's mission was one of the most important, and the most dangerous. Jiraiya had done his best to keep it a secret from everyone except those that were directly involved in it. There would be a feint against the outer defences of the Akatsuki stronghold just long enough to sneak Naruto in. His only job was to retrieve Sauske. Jiraiya knew that he would never leave alive without having killed Itachi, but he continued to hope that maybe, just maybe, Naruto would be able to save him. Though Sauske was technically a missing-nin and a threat to the leaf village, Naruto would never allow his fellow ninjas to go against one of their own. Without Sauske around, he'd grown to understand the importance of teamwork even more. While working with Team 7 he felt he'd finally been accepted, and losing that to Sauske's bull-headed selfishness was unpardonable. There were still people in the village that cared for him whether he avenged his family or not, and if he had to knock him unconscious and drag him back to prove it, so be it.

Naruto was finishing his first bowl of ramen and preparing to leave when a hand patted down on his shoulder. Iruka ordered a second helping of ramen for Naruto and sat down to watch him eat. As soon as Naruto noticed his visitor he immediately slouched into his usual nonchalant countenance. For some reason, he wasn't willing to let Iruka see him being serious, even now. He let him watch him eat, though. For some reason the adults liked to watch him tonight. At least it wasn't unusual for Iruka. The man often treated him to ramen, and had given up on conversation that was more often than not drowned out by slurping noises. Let them get a head start in basking in his brilliance then, Naruto thought. Iruka knew what he'd have to do tonight - he was part of the feint that would be staged as the distraction. Naruto couldn't help but feel worried for him, but he pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he finished his ramen. Iruka smiled as he stood to go, but he couldn't think of anything to say to Naruto that didn't sound out of place. He finally settled on a simple "Good Luck" and ruffled Naruto's hair. Naruto grinned up at him.

"Iruka-sensei, you'd better be here when they make me Hokage after this!"

He nodded and left the shop. Outside the first waves of ninjas were leaving the village to stand guard at the borders. Already some of them would be arriving at the outskirts of Akatsuki's hideout. Inside the Ichiraku, Naruto turned to Jiraiya who was still sipping slowly at his sake, seemingly deep in thought. His eyes were focused a little too heavily on the lady behind the counter to be lost in any kind of serious thought, though. Naruto poked him in the arm, his happy energy returning as the start of his mission loomed closer.

"Hey, hey, isn't it time to go?"

Jiraiya looked at the bottle of sake in front of him. It was still half full, but it was never a good idea to drink too much before a battle. Just enough to loosen you up, and that was it. It was still a shame to see it go to waste, though.

"Ero-sennin, I'll finish that for you, if you want," Naruto said, eying the bottle in front of his teacher hopefully. Jiraiya stood and laughed, putting an arm around Naruto and escorting him out of the shop, nodding thanks to the owner.

"Not now. Maybe when we return."

They stepped out into the cool afternoon air. The sun was still shining and the sky was cloudless, but the colours were all wrong. It was almost grey, and nothing seemed to hold the same brightness it once did. The world was sick, perhaps, being drained of its vital energy. With luck though, the leaf would be able to stop it, and once again make things right – to stop this cycle of misguided revenge and questing for impossible power.

Everything was quiet. The calm before the storm. Waiting. A lone cloud drifted towards the western horizon slowly turning from faint white to peach to orange. It was a strange contrast in the grey afternoon sky. There was a strange rippling effect over the horizon where Akatsuki's headquarters sat, drawing in the world's chakra. It made it seem like the forest was washing up and down against a stark-still sky. Bits of conversation floated by on the breeze as Naruto and Jiraiya made their way out of the village.

"And then I went outside with my axe…"

"Suppose you taped two ninjas together to make an even _bigger_ ninja…"

The idle, meaningless conversation made between those that were standing around with nothing to do but wait. They waved at Sakura as they passed. She had finally been assigned to a younger group as their medical ninja. She was the fourth in the group, but they didn't exclude her. She was actually talking happily with them, though the concern was evident in her eyes. She too wanted to see Sauske return safely. Her smile pleaded with Naruto as she watched them pass out of the village, then she returned her attention to her group. They would need her help today on the front lines, and though she wouldn't be fighting directly, she was certain they would come to need her help as the battle continued.


	21. Time and Betrayal

Al sat in the middle of the living room showing Wrath how the small interlocking gears inside the machine Winry had built worked. The array on the floor of his study had been drawn hours ago, and everything had been secured in case of any unexpected accidents. He kept Wrath close, trying to sense the activities at the gate through him. He pointed to a small flywheel used to control one of the machine's arms and brushed against Wrath's hand. It was warmer than usual. The boy's hair was beginning to stand on end, like he was suddenly charged with static electricity. Al looked up at Izumi and she nodded.

It was almost time.

---------

Seven o'clock. The time of the offensive had nearly come. Hughes' squad had been assigned at the outskirts of the compound. There was nothing left to do to wait until the people within made their move, or the signal was given. Havoc sat down and pulled a cigarette from his kunai pouch. Hughes stared down at him but said nothing. He couldn't begrudge the man a cigarette before going into battle. Roy even snapped his fingers offering him a light. There was no worry that his chakra would be detected using alchemy. It was one of the perks of maintaining the use of alchemy in this world, and he somewhat regretted never taking the time to teach Havoc how it worked now that he was here. Then again, he wasn't prepared to share the secrets of alchemy with _everyone_, and if they were indeed going to make it back home he didn't want to have another alchemist on his staff. Alchemists were troublesome.

Havoc was halfway through his cigarette when he suddenly coughed. Hughes and Roy looked down. Havoc did _not_ have a smoker's cough. It was one of the bizarre miracles of his existence that he didn't have a smoker's cough despite a two pack a day habit. Since he'd cut back, there was especially no reason for him to have a cough. Havoc looked up at Hughes and motioned for him to sit down next to himself and Roy. He leaned forward and pulled a scroll out of the pouch at his waist and started writing something out on it as discretely as possible as the other two read over his shoulder.

_Someone else is here_, he wrote, _watch._

He took another puff of his cigarette and blew the smoke towards the trees to his left. It travelled a few feet through the air and disappeared completely beyond a certain point, like it had suddenly been cut off. Roy and Hughes looked to Havoc for some sort of explanation, but he couldn't come up with anything. None of them had expected any sort of genjutsu in this area… there was no need for it. There were no entrances to the headquarters nearby, nor any known traps. As they were glancing around looking for clues, each with a hand on their weapons for fear that the ambush had been reversed, the genjutsu was dropped. A young ninja – he looked no older than 18 or 19 – stared down at them. His glasses sat at the perfect angle on his nose to reflect the image of the three back at themselves, obscuring his eyes. He grinned and pushed his glasses up.

"I see that birds of a feather really do flock together. I only wish they were better at flying, and wouldn't fall out of the sky in such inconvenient places."

The three of them stood together, hands on their weapons and keeping their back to the tree in case anyone else decided to appear. The man had a very annoyingly superior air about him, like he hated to have to bring himself down enough to talk to them. Hughes noted his forehead protector, a single musical note etched in the steel. So he was from the Sound. For the first time since Hayate's death, Hughes thought about revenge. He was almost certain this person had somehow been involved, he could sense it. Unfortunately, he could also sense that this person was holding a very dangerous and invisible weapon – some sort of knife made from chakra. Hughes unconsciously backed further into the tree, and Roy and Havoc exchanged glances debating what course of action to take. Every way of escape seemed to be a dead end, so Roy decided to confront the man head-on.

"What do you want?"

The young man adjusted his glasses again and took up a less-threatening stance.

"What do I want? I want you to make things more interesting. On the way here, the Sound ninjas were unfortunately ambushed by a bunch of Sand kids. They won't be here on time to protect the western side of the compound. Only three runners got away to report to Orochimaru." He held out three Sound forehead protectors. "There's someone in there you'll want to see. Only Orochimaru will know you aren't from Sound, but he'll be too busy to care. You'll have about five minutes to get in, when I give the warning."

There was no "Why should we trust you?" question. The boy was dangerous, but they could now see that that glint in his eye wasn't for them. He was merely enjoying playing both sides. He smiled at them again, and disappeared into the trees, leaving the three of them to decide what to do. Roy was afraid to admit to himself who he was afraid of finding within Akatsuki's hideout. It was a fear that he'd been suppressing since the first strange dream he'd had here, with the red-coated boy on the rocket. It hadn't connected until Havoc had told him he'd seen it to, on his trip through the gate. The only thing that could gather power from a world like this would be some perversion of alchemy… whoever it was had either discovered alchemy on his own, which was so unlikely Roy considered it impossible, or it was someone else who had been unfortunate enough to come through from Amestris. Roy refused to let himself think directly that it could be FullMetal, but the thought itched at the back of his mind.

Hughes absentmindedly picked up one of the Sound headbands and tied it around his head like a bandana. He grinned at the other two.

"So, are we going?"

"Hughes, you look like a pirate."

"Pirate…" he smirked, "or _ninja_?"

Havoc rolled his eyes at the reference to the game they'd used to play in the office on slow days. It was amusingly out of place here, where they were all playing ninja in the woods. Their mission here was to keep an eye on the western side, but if the mysterious boy had been telling the truth, they weren't likely to see any battle at all. No one would notice they were gone, and if they were walking into a trap, it would only start the battle sooner. Havoc reached over and grabbed the second headband, tying it around his head. This could be fun.

Hughes looked over at Roy who was apparently still lost in thought.

"Roy Mustang, you aren't going to sit there and let your subordinates have all the fun, are you?"

Roy stared at the headband tied around Havoc's head. He'd expected the indiscretion and unfounded enthusiasm from Hughes, but not from Havoc. Then again, Havoc was a veteran of this kind of mission, maybe he gravitated to them. Or Hughes was rubbing off on him. Roy picked up the last headband and put it on without a word. He only smiled. There was no way he'd let his subordinates outdo him. Together they watched for the signal. Just a few more minutes. Roy absentmindedly pulled the small stone out of his pocket. He had forgotten he was still carrying it with him. It was strange now. The red specks made up only a small fraction of the stone now, and had all gathered at one end, and no matter which way he turned it, they moved to point to Akatsuki's headquarters. The rest was faintly blue, and larger bits of yellow were beginning to peek through underneath. When he concentrated, he could feel his chakra slowly draining away into the caves. It was a good thing they wouldn't need genjutsu to get inside.


	22. On Revenge

Ed looked down at the small rock glowing on the floor. Lately he'd been the only one able to stand being inside of his room. It had been a relief that none of the members had been able to bother him as he did more of his research, but more and more he found his mind wandering back to home. He was so close. He hoped he hadn't been too greedy in borrowing from this world's power. By the deep red colour of the stone he judged it must have been holding a very large share of it. He'd been told that a large group of ninjas from one of the opposing villages was gathering troops outside, preparing to attack and put an end to his power-draining, but he'd be done by then. Gone and done. And the ninjas outside would soon be surprised to find themselves without power, anyway. He'd at least promised Akatsuki that much. He feared the homunculus Orochimaru had been creating, though. The people attacking wouldn't be expecting immortal guards, but immortal guards were what they had. He still wasn't sure how they worked, but perhaps they were also powered by chakra, similar to how the homunculus in his world survived on the power of the red stone. It was possible… he smiled. He wouldn't allow himself to be indirectly responsible for any more deaths. He'd stop _all_ of the chakra, and level the playing field. It wasn't equivalent trade, but he didn't believe that allowing these people to take several hundred lives because of the advantage he'd incidentally given them was, either.

Ed stepped out of the room and walked down into the large room at the end of the hallway. He could feel that Orochimaru had the gate open yet again. After he'd finally taught Ed how to open it, he'd been manically trying to find the missing part of his soul that had been trapped within it. Once again, his little sidekick was lurking in the corner, brooding. It seemed that brooding was all Sauske did. It was obvious that he resented everyone here, Orochimaru most of all for forcing him to come. He'd been almost entirely ignored since the man arrived, and it had been slowly driving him crazy. Orochimaru stood back from the gate again. Even the tiny giggling gate-keepers shied away from his insane grin now. He dragged one of them out by the arm and held it up at eye level.

"Where?!" he demanded, shaking it. It squirmed and tore against his arm, but only succeeded in dishevelling the bandages. He glared and threw it back into the gate. "One of you has them!" he yelled at the children in the gate. He reached in again, and pulled out a small one. It was as black as the others, but its arms were a slightly lighter shade. Orochimaru looked down at it and finally smiled. "You."

He turned to Sauske, grinning even wider than before.

"Sauske, it is time for you to hand over your body to me."

Sauske glared back from the corner of the room where he was standing. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. That Orochimaru would be treacherous enough to demand his payment before he'd finished what he promised. Sauske snapped.

"Like hell I'm giving you my body now! What have you done for me? You haven't done a thing since you gave me this seal! I've been training with your _minions_ for months now while you scramble to other people about your own crazy goals. I didn't care what you were doing, as long as you gave me power, but everything I have right now I've had to work for myself. The only reason I attained the Mangekyou Sharingan was by killing Naruto with my own hands. And even now you deny me the power I need to finally kill my brother and avenge my family. You have me in his _hideout_ and I still can't kill him! My only reason for living is revenge. I don't care what you do with me afterwards, but you cannot have my body before that. Three years was the promise. I don't care what kind of breakthrough you've had in your research."

Orochimaru glared and stalked out of the room. He was almost pouting as he pushed by Edward, but he knew that if he was going to take Sauske's body he'd have to find an opening for him to kill Itachi. Unfortunately, he'd lately been too distracted by his own research to find one. Why couldn't the boy do anything for himself? The door slammed closed behind him, and the gate retreated back to whatever space between the worlds it usually inhabited.

"And you," Sauske glared at Ed. "If you lay a finger on my brother before I get to him, you're dead."

Ed watched as Sauske retreated to the far corner of the room and sat down, resuming his sulking. He'd been watching him for small intervals ever since he'd arrived. He and his brother were the closest of all the people in the caves that were closest to his age, and at first they'd reminded him of himself and his brother. This had only been for the first few seconds however, before he'd noticed the murderous intentions Sauske had against his brother, and the way Itachi ignored him completely, as if he didn't exist at all or wasn't worth his time to notice. Itachi seemed to treat everyone who couldn't directly benefit him in that way, though. Ed didn't consider himself lucky that he wasn't one of those people. For some reason, seeing Sauske seething in the corner reminded Ed of his brother. He hoped that Al hadn't let some strange idea of revenge steer him since his disappearance. These ninjas, it seemed, had the same tendency to shut out the entire outside world in favour of their pursuit of power. He suddenly felt the need to try to make this estranged little brother see things differently.

"Is revenge really that important to you?" he asked.

Sauske looked up at him. Very little emotion showed in his dark eyes. He looked pale and somewhat sickly, like he hadn't seen the sun in months. His expression reminded Ed of Frank Archer – that ominous smirk and glint in the eyes that was just searching for a battle to fight. Was it these ones that always went insane? There was something slightly different, though. Oddly enough, his hunger didn't seem to be for power, but for recognition. No wonder though, with the only remaining member of his family refusing to even admit that he was able to see him. Perhaps then, he should just move on. When Sauske made no response, Ed continued. He could afford to spare a little time being philosophical.

"There's never a good end to revenge. I've seen it. The people who are driven only by revenge only end up unfulfilled. Even those that pursue things for love can end up without what they've been looking for, but at least then they have something else to go back to. The people who are only out for revenge; they just wither up and die afterwards. There's nothing else there. No future, no purpose. Is that what you want?"

Sauske still made no comment, and though Ed wasn't sure if he was even listening, he hadn't told him to shut up yet.

"It reminds me of people I knew at home. My neighbour… my brother and I always used to play with her when we were little. One day a man from the army came to her door to tell her that her parents were dead, killed in a war they were only involved in to help the casualties. But instead of revenge, she decided she'd work harder, and become the best mechanic she should be. Even when she found out that she knew who had killed her parents, she didn't seek revenge on them."

Ed wandered over to the wall near where Sauske still sat and leaned against it a few feet away. He decided he didn't care if the boy was listening or not, he looked like he wasn't the sort to ever listen to advice anyway, but he felt that someone else should know about the people he knew at home, and how much he respected them, even if he'd never told them.

"Then there was my commander in the military. He was a smug jerk, but when I think about it he was also a great man. I didn't realize it until the last time I saw him. He'd seen so many things go wrong, and decided that he'd do something about them. He decided he'd rise up to the top of the military and fix things from there. He had a whole group of loyal people following him, even. But his best friend got too close to the truth and got killed. I guess after that he did seek out revenge, but not directly. He channelled the energy into his work, pushing himself harder, and working out a plan to finally get revenge and meet his goal. And I imagine he did. He's probably sitting in Central now, Fuhrer, head of the military, with all his secretaries in miniskirts. Jerk. I don't think he's doing much work, but I bet he's happy where he is. Because there was something waiting for him after he got his revenge. Look at me! I've been travelling now for five years trying to get my brother back to his original body, and just when I came closest I was torn away from him and thrown out into some other world. Then, escaping that one, I ended up here!" Ed didn't care anymore that he was giving away all his secrets to Sauske. The boy was quiet; he wasn't going to tell anyone anything. And even if he did, it wouldn't make a difference. Ed would be gone in less than an hour anyway. "I guess I'm still paying my price for the mistakes I made in the past. But my brother and I, not once did we want _revenge_ against what had taken our bodies away from us." He gripped his prosthetic arm, still made of the heavy useless materials he'd put together in Munich. "We understood that it was a consequence. I'm not saying that it was some kind of punishment that your brother murdered your family. But wouldn't it be a greater revenge to just go on living? Ignore him like he ignores you, and he'll be forced to take notice. It takes a lot more strength to move on than it does to blindly follow revenge where it takes you. The hardest thing I ever did was to leave my home the last time after my mom died. We burned it down so we wouldn't give up and come back. Maybe that's what you need to do. Put your past behind you. Surely you can see you're not getting anywhere by lurking around in corners here. For all you know the world could be ending outside, and if the only reason you would care is that you haven't killed your brother yet then… then that's just pathetic."

Ed turned and walked out of the room. Inside his study the stone was pulsating with a bright red hue. The time to cut it off, if he was going to preserve Akatsuki's power, had already passed. He smiled. So he'd made a difference even if the kid hadn't been listening to him. It wasn't necessarily his fault he'd been distracted by something else when he was supposed to be watching the stone. He felt an odd shift in the world, like it had suddenly stopped spinning, and the array around the stone faded.

It was almost time.


	23. The End of Red

(Author's Note: Ah, I apologize for another short chapter. I promise the next one is much longer (probably upwards of 2500 words, as I'm still writing it). This is officially the end of what I finished in November, and every time I go now to work more on the ending it changes on me again. The problem basically is that I've got too many tiny plot points converging all at one time and it's confusing even me... and it's really hard to canonically resolve a lot of the problems I've walked these poor characters into. I mean, Akatsuki's sort of _hard_ to defeat, ya know? I'm sort of torn now between finishing up the ending the way things are now, and just doing the rewrite and putting the ending on that. I'm a little less partial to the latter simply because it makes everyone wait like, an extra month while I sort through schoolwork and try to finish this, but artistically (as far as I can call this silly little mess some kind of "art") it'd make me feel better if I went back and fixed all the mistakes first. (My spelling of Hohenheim being the least of my worries). So anyway, consider this update a small present from me on my birthday. Hehehe. Read, be happy, hooray! Condsider all hugs and glomps previously left in reviews to be returned).

* * *

A flare went up to the south of the compound. It was several minutes later than Hughes, Roy, and Havoc had expected. The fighting had started about five minutes earlier, and they'd seen Naruto scramble into a side entrance under a faint cover of genjutsu. It was lucky that the Sound ninjas had never arrived; otherwise his run would have been much more difficult. It was almost too easy for him, though they all knew that the hardest part of his mission would be inside, if he was really going to be able to bring Sauske back. Roy wondered what bit of information the Hokage had that gave her the confidence to go along with such a risky plan. Naruto by himself would barely survive a whole minute against any single member of Akatsuki. Tsunade was known to gamble, but those odds were far too high for even her.

The flare fizzled out over the battle at the south end, and the world seemed to shift. It was like a kick in the gut, and suddenly the last of the chakra seemed to zip out of the world. The sky turned completely grey, and peach-coloured clouds of dust and smoke hung in it. Roy recovered quickly, and urged Hughes and Havoc on. He looked again at the stone. There wasn't a speck of red to be found. Now was the time.

"Come on!"

"But… I just don't have the energy," Havoc complained, leaning against a tree and pulling out a cigarette.

"You don't need this world's energy to move, Havoc! Go!"

The three of them ran across the small clearing between the edge of the forest and the entrance to Akatsuki's hideout. It felt almost as if they were running in slow motion despite the fact that nearly everything else stood still. Only Hughes made the connection that it was because the extra chakra kick they usually used when running was now missing. Many of the ninjas looked lost at the sudden lack of chakra, and some of their opponents had simply dropped to the ground at the change. Roy guessed that those that were on the ground were the strange immortal ninjas that they'd heard passing squads whispering about as they ran through the woods to the battle – they'd probably been powered only by chakra. They reached the entrance. Fearing what they might find inside, Roy took the lead. He unconsciously started gathering alchemical energy to his fingertips, just in case whoever they found inside hadn't been effected by the power shift. It was strange to concentrate solely on alchemy again, after having spent so much time perfecting the combination of the science and the mental skill of chakra control. It was almost a surprise to find that alchemical energy could still be controlled in the same way. Roy forced himself out of his rambling train of thought, pushing himself back into his old military mindset. This was a _mission_, it was no time to be theorizing or patting yourself on your back for your research.

The inside of the complex was nearly as still as the outside. Maybe even more so, now that a few pockets of fighting had started back up as they ran inside. There was no sign of the actual members of the group anywhere. Perhaps they had escaped out the back or something right before the last of the chakra had disappeared. None of them could imagine what sort of plan they had where they'd be willing to take the risk of losing _all _the chakra. The three wandered farther into the cavern. Off to the right there was a long hallway where a strange red light leaked out from under the giant wooden door separating it from the rest of the rooms. After exchanging a quick glance and a few nods, the three walked down the hallway towards the light. Out of curiosity, Roy pulled the stone out of his pocket again. The closer they got to the door, the more red appeared in it. This time though, it didn't remain in flecks but mixed in with the blue and yellow, making a strangely shimmering purple colour. So they had preserved some of the power for themselves, after all.

Roy held out a hand to stop Havoc and Hughes behind him. They turned to watch both ends of the hallway and Roy relaxed a little, allowing himself to feel out the energy leaking from the other side of the door. It definitely had the red feel of concentrated chakra, but also the blue of alchemical energy. He took a moment to adjust to the new feel of the energy, making sure he was prepared should he need it once they opened the door. He motioned for Hughes and Havoc to do the same. The glow grew, spreading out from under the door and wrapping the three in an unusual warmth. They pushed the door open.

* * *

Al's hands had barely touched the outside of the array when the Gate appeared. There was already so much energy gathered there, it didn't take much more to summon it. The doors, however, seemed to be stuck shut. There was never even the slightest breeze in front of the gate, but now gusts of wind blew across it. The doors seemed to be held closed by some kind of suction. It wasn't its originally intended use, but Armstrong guided Winry's remote-controlled machine to the gate and attached its two suction-cup hands to the doors. They had all mocked the suction cups at first, "It's for picking up people, Winry! People don't stick to suction cups!" But perhaps she'd had some foresight that Al had lacked. Armstrong pushed the robot into reverse and it pulled backwards. The doors creaked and moaned, but didn't budge.

"Hurry!" Al screamed, unable to keep the urgency from his voice. If he let too much time pass, it would be too late and he might never be able to get near his brother again.

The machine's gears whined and smoke began to pour out under the tank tracks it moved along on. There was a pop and it fell over backwards, treads spinning uselessly in the air, then with a final dying moan the machine stopped. Al looked over at Armstrong, who was still helplessly trying to get the controls to work again. Armstrong finally looked up at Al, and by the look in his eyes and the sparkles levitating around his head he could tell what the man was about to do. Al tried to shout, tried to stop him, but it was no use. Armstrong ripped off his shirt and bounded into the centre of the circle, grabbing hold of both doors. He pulled with all his might, his muscles pulsing with the strain. Al tried to avert his gaze, but he couldn't help it. The gate slowly gave way to Armstrong's heaving, doors blowing open with a sudden shift in energy.

Just as suddenly, the force of the energy shifted again, pulling the doors closed. Al moved to wedge the machine between them, and watched its head fly through in the process. The doors slammed into it and stuck open barely enough to see inside. Al breathed a sigh of relief, and thankfully this time Armstrong remained on the outside of the circle. He peeked through at the scene on the other side. It seemed to be the only place the gate would lead.


	24. Unaccounted For

Ed knelt in the middle of his own circle, staring into the swirling energy behind the open doors. A few moments earlier, he'd thought he'd caught a glimpse of his brother through the abyss. So close! But now, the scene blurred and nearly disappeared, as if something else was pushing it aside. Ed reached out towards the fading image, now not even sure that it hadn't been an illusion created by the creatures behind the gate.

Roy was the first to enter the room; cautiously at first, fearing what he might find at the source of the strange power. Ed was, decidedly, the last thing he had expected to be at its source. He watched him closely as he entered the room, barely taking note of the other things going on around him - of the group of men in the corner staring into the Gate, or the small boy sulking nearby, his gaze never leaving the other group. Roy studied the circle drawn onto the floor. Its shape struck a familiar note somewhere in his mind, but he was unable to connect it with anything he had seen before, even in the immense jumble of foreign memories that made up his own trip through the gate. Tearing his attention away from Ed and the gate, he walked further into the room, trying his best to take in as much as possible of what was going on. The power was beginning to shift again, taking on a different feel and colour, somehow rougher than it had felt before, more raw.

Hughes, upon entering the cavern, turned immediately to face the members of Akatsuki. He noted their rapt attention on the centre of the room, where a small boy in a red coat sat in the middle of a circle, facing the doors of the gate. It was a testament to his training that he looked first to the most immediate human threat, rather than Edward, but once his attention fell on him, he was trapped in a swirl of thought on how he could possibly have gotten trapped here too. It was immediately clear to him that Ed was trying to tear his way home somehow and Hughes latched onto this idea, this small glint of a promise. The gate here appeared no different from the one that he had come through to arrive here, though it appeared that he hadn't used the same methods Roy had to summon it. If he hadn't known the boy in the corner to be Sauske, he would have assumed that perhaps Ed had used him as the key to the Gate. It appeared that he had been working almost completely independently of his father, so little of his influence was echoed in his approach. Ed's attention was fixed entirely on the gate – he took no notice of any of the three as they walked into the room. Hughes' attention flew briefly to Sauske. It wasn't like him to stand out of the way of all the action, and even less so for him to look so tired, so used.

Havoc was the last to enter, focusing his attention instead on the reaction of the two men in front of him. He watched as they split their immediate attention as they entered the room, almost as if they had been trained to take in everything at once. Roy had paused near the middle of the room and off to the side, carefully out of the reach of the menacing group in the corner and away from the raw power that now flowed from the open gate in the centre of the room. He could feel the tension in the air, and found himself instinctively trying to latch on to the strange raw power that now leaked from the gate. This was a very fragile situation they had walked into. The members of Akatsuki seemed to be waiting for something from Ed, while Ed was completely distracted by something that was going on inside of the gate itself. Whatever it was had made him forget completely what was going on around him. The men behind Ed shifted uncomfortably, and Havoc tensed. The presence of Akatsuki hadn't escaped Hughes' eyes either, and the two grouped behind Mustang, who was still entranced by whatever Ed was doing in front of the gate. It appeared that the men hadn't given the three more than a glance. Perhaps the sound insignia meant more than they thought it did, or perhaps they were more intent on the gate than they seemed. At least it saved them from immediate conflict.

Ed's eyes widened as he stared into the depths. Something seemed to be coming through, and he backed away. It was the last remnant he had seen of the previous connection he'd had with his own world, and he followed its swirling movements through the tunnel of the gate. It shifted hard to the left for a moment, then seemed to speed up, propelled by some new force behind it as it hurtled towards the opening. Ed stood, moving to the side to get out of its path should it fly all the way through, never breaking his stare into the opening. The children that usually guarded the gate seemed unable to move from the outside of the tunnel, pushed aside by the same force that pushed the strange object forward. As it approached, Ed could see the familiar skill in the build, the choice of materials. It flew from the gate just as Ed connected the form to its maker. It had been something Winry had built. Winry…

He turned to see where the object had landed. He recognized it as the head of some sort of machine and wondered briefly what its original purpose had been. Surely not to do what it had just done. One of the members of Akatsuki now stood glaring at Edward, rubbing the blood from a cut on his face. If the object had hit anyone else, it probably would have felled him immediately. Ed stepped back at the murderous stare, but stopped when he remembered where he was. A few false steps and he could be flying into yet another foreign world, and he doubted he could survive another adventure like this. Gazing back briefly though, he noted exactly where the gate sat in the room, in case he needed to make an emergency escape. The man the errant piece of machinery had hit was now unmistakably advancing toward him, and there was no mistaking his intent to kill. Edward mentally kicked himself for never bothering to study their style of fighting. He knew only what he had thought might help him in his research on how to return home, and none of it was useful when he was on the defensive. Foolishly, he had been relying on their power to protect him if he was ever threatened. He had assumed that, should they threaten him as he made his escape, he would have already sealed their power away. He hadn't counted on it escaping from the stone and leaking from the gate as it was now.

Only two pairs of eyes were not on Ed as the man approached, both studying the scene through the power of the Sharingan. Sauske never took his eyes off of Itachi, while Itachi watched Ed's attacker.

"That was your doing, yeah?" the man questioned. His tone and accent were strange, and his looks and movements had a bat-like quality.

Ed silently stood his ground, hiding any emotion he was feeling behind a calculating scowl. Even now, he couldn't afford to lose face in front of these men if he was to finish what he had started here.

"Why…" he took a few more steps forward to intimidate Ed, "would you do something like that, yeah?"

The man was getting too close for safety. Ed clapped his hands together and drew his left hand along the back of his prosthetic arm. Though it was now made of a synthetic material his friends had introduced him to in Germany, he'd built a long knife into the length of it that could be drawn out mechanically. He now reinforced it with alchemy, mixing the material into the bottom of the blade, securing it thoroughly so it wouldn't snap loose. The man lunged and then sprung at Edward, but before he was an inch off the ground his body stiffened and fell forward.

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze for a moment as their attention switched to Itachi as he stepped forward. Kicking the body out of the way, he watched Edward for a reaction, seeming to scold him for not defending himself more quickly. He then turned again to face his fellow members of Akatsuki, daring another of them to come after the boy he'd brought to them. They were not the types to avoid his stare, but none made a move to test his strength. Itachi slowly walked back to stand again at the front of the group. Only Hughes noticed his slight glance towards the corner as he walked back. It could have passed as a gaze back at the man he had just killed, but there was something else behind it. He followed Itachi's line of sight, finding Sauske once again at the end of it. His eyes were now tinted red with the same Sharingan as his brother's. He seemed to be watching everything at once, taking it in, calculating. Waiting. Itachi watched him for only a fraction of a moment before turning his attention back to the gate in the centre of the room. The energy flowing from it now was of a totally different type, yellow and raw, and it was increasing with every passing second.

As Itachi stared into the gate, watching the flow of power as only those with the Sharingan could, Sauske sensed his moment. His brother's hunger for new power would be the only thing that would distract him thoroughly enough to give him an opportunity to strike. And in this room here it felt like now or never. With the gate wide open, this new power flowing into the world, it felt like the end. If not the end he'd been waiting for, at least some end. He took a step forward, gathered a small amount of strength – just enough to move quickly, a careful amount less than his brother would be likely to notice. There was no stopping the momentum now as he lunged toward his brother.

Itachi's eyes snapped to Sauske as he ran towards him, but the man made no other move to show that he even cared that his brother was running towards him, murderous intent showing in his eyes. Itachi simply stared, and slowly, slowly Sauske came to a halt in front of him, in a sort of trance. Itachi reached a hand out towards his brother, a small hint of a mocking laugh escaping from his mouth.

"You're still too weak! You're barely even resisting!"

He reached out, grabbing Sauske, and threw him towards the wall. Before he could even think, the knife Hughes had palmed when the bat-like man was threatening Ed flew through the air, grazing past Itachi's neck and leaving a thin red line that slowly began to bleed.

_Why did I react now, for someone I barely even know, when I didn't react when Ed was attacked?_ Hughes questioned. The answer came quickly though… there would have been no one else in this cavern that would have done anything for Sauske. And he couldn't stand by when someone so young was in danger, no matter how dark and brooding he might have been.

Itachi broke eye contact with Sauske and the boy sank to the floor. He'd only been trapped in the genjutsu for a few seconds, but clearly it had taken its toll on him. The anger in his eyes was only slightly dimmed as he caught his breath, watching the man who had just attacked his brother. Itachi turned his cold stare on Hughes and for a moment everyone seemed to be frozen in place, watching. The wind continued to swirl around the gate, the only background noise to the scene.

Hughes looked up to meet Itachi's stare…

* * *

(Author's Note: At the end this time even. Raise your hand if you want to kill me now. I am _so_ evil. Because it's going to be forever before I get a chance to write more of this. Sorry! Sorry! But this was such a beautifully evil place to leave off, I couldn't resist. Expect, around the same time I update with the next chapter, for there to be a few random other chapters thrown into the middle. I'll try to point people to them, but I'm not sure how angry ffnet's going to get when I switch all the chapter numbers around... Oh, and destinedragon, you made my day with that review. Hehehe). 


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